Indeed. Many people don't realise how amazingly robust margins have remained.
A lot of it is because its such a closed shop which is why they can get away with many things.
My hunch is they print pallets of cash, then use some large fraction for bonfires.
What are good businesses?
Apple... Saudi Aramco... Google... AWS...
Sure, Apple's theoretical cell subscribers could grow a lot - but no one is going to care...
It would be such a small part of the profits compared to hardware sales and other services - with a MASSIVE capital cost - probably much higher than phone R&D.
It would be less capital intensive and possibly more profitable for Apple to manufacture their own phones than start their own carrier business... And that's a horrible idea, too...
The idea of starting your own carrier business that isn't an MVNe is almost absurd.
Why doesn't Tesla build their own roads while we're at it?
Carriers have 50-60% gross margins. They are critical enough to get special tax treatments to deal with the capital expenses. If the goal is to make money, what would be the “best” business? Drug cartel?