NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T Inc. on Thursday reported a decline in the number of iPhones activated in its latest quarter, as buyers waited for the new model.

The country's largest telecommunications company Thursday said it activated 2.7 million iPhones in the third quarter, the lowest number in a year and a half. A new iPhone was launched just after the end of the quarter.

However, AT&T's recruitment of subscribers to its contract-based plans continued to recover after being slashed earlier this year by the advent of the iPhone at Verizon Wireless. Contract-based plans are the most lucrative.

In the quarter, AT&T gained a net 389,000 subscribers on contract plans, excluding the effects of two minor acquisitions. That was roughly in line with analyst expectations and an improvement from the first quarter's figure of 62,000. However, it was still only half the number it gained in last year's third quarter. Most phone companies are finding it harder to gain subscribers now that almost everyone has a phone.

AT&T added a total of 2.1 million phones and other devices to its wireless network, for a total of 100.7 million phones and other devices on its wireless network. Half of the gains were non-phone, low-margin devices like Kindles.

Net income fell to $3.62 billion, or 61 cents per share, for the July to September period. That's down from $12.3 billion, or $2.07 per share, a year ago, which was boosted by the sale of a subsidiary and a tax settlement.

The latest earnings matched the average forecast of analysts polled by FactSet.

AT&T says its revenue slipped 0.3 percent to $31.5 billion from $31.6 billion a year ago. That was slightly below analysts' expectations of $31.6 billion.

In premarket trading, AT&T shares fell 44 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $28.65.