Here’s why Apple will never buy a carrier

[US network’s] return on equity (the profit-per-dollar invested in the business) is way below what Apple enjoys, in spite of its having “way too much cash for its own good.” For example, last quarter, AT&T’s Net Income was $3.6B for $113.8B in Equity, a ratio of 3.16%. Apple’s numbers were $7.3B for $69.3, a ratio of 10.5% — more than 3 times AT&T’s…

It’s a nice fantasy, a carrier with the service quality and simplicity we get today when we enter an Apple Store. But for the fantasy to become reality, Apple Wireless would need to give birth to services that generate significant new hardware opportunities – opportunities that would need to be unavailable through Verizon and AT&T (otherwise, what’s the point?).

Or in simple terms, owning a network will not shift a significant number of new devices.