U.S. Cellular Will Carry iPhones in 2013

U.S. Cellular revealed that it will carry Apple devices in the company’s first quarter 2013 earnings report issued today.

While the report did not specific which Apple products this includes, U.S. Cellular confirmed to Gotta Be Mobile that it will carry “iPhone products later this year”

That may start with the current iPhone 5, or it may begin with the iPhone 5S Apple will likely release sometime this fall. This appears to rule out a U.S. Cellular iPad at this time.

In the report U.S. Cellular CEO Mary Dillion said:

“We have a number of strategies in progress to increase loyalty and attract more customers, including our announcement today that we will begin offering Apple products later this year. By further strengthening our device portfolio, we’ll give consumers another great reason to switch to U.S. Cellular, and enable our existing customers to choose from an even wider variety of iconic smartphones, and enjoy the outstanding U.S. Cellular customer experiences they deserve.”

U.S. Cellular currently offers a number of Android devices, but it has no iPhone model to offer its customers. The regional carrier currently offers the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 as well as a number of mid-range phones from Motorola, HTC, ZTE and LG.

U.S. Cellular is perhaps one of the largest regional carriers that doesn’t yet offer the iPhone. Other regional carriers like C Spire and Cricket currently offers the iPhone 5.

At its current rate the iPhone will likely make it to every carrier in the U.S. soon. The last of the big four carrier, T-Mobile, recently started carrying the iPhone 5 with its Uncarrier plans.

As Samsung’s wide range of Android phones threaten Apple’s dominance in the smartphone market it seems the company wants to get its phones on as many carriers as possible. Theoretically more carrier support should mean more users that buy the iPhone.