Major US Carriers Will Shift Tariffs Costs to Consumers, Says AT&T and Verizon
In a recent development, leading US telecommunications companies AT&T and Verizon have confirmed that they will not absorb the costs associated with new tariffs on mobile phones. Instead, they will pass these costs directly on to their customers, impacting the pricing of handsets in the market. Both companies made these announcements during their earnings calls for Q1 2025, signaling a significant change in their pricing strategies amidst rising operational costs.
Verizon's Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg remarked during the call that while the future is uncertain, the company does not plan to cover any steep increases in tariff costs. He stated,
If the tariff is going to be as high as they say on the handset, we're not planning to cover that in our work. That's just not going to be possible. We will not cover any enormous increase on tariffs on handsets. That’s ultimately going to hit the consumer in the market.
– Hans Vestberg, Verizon Chairman and CEO, April 2025
Verizon is currently collaborating with its suppliers to mitigate the impact of tariffs, although Vestberg noted that the outcome remains uncertain at this stage.
AT&T also stated it will not absorb tariff costs. Image credit: PhoneArena
AT&T CEO John Stankey echoed similar sentiments during his company's earnings call, stating that if the costs from suppliers increase due to tariffs,
I think that if ultimately costs are passed to us from those that we buy handsets from, unfortunately for the customer, we’re going to have to come up with some new ways for them to figure out how to digest that increase in pricing.
