Apple's iPhone 3G

AT&T, one of the largest phone companies in the world, has fallen victim to economic turbulence. AT&T announced Thursday it will cut four percent of its workforce, or 12,000 jobs.

With 303,530 employees worldwide and $120 billion in pro-forma revenue in 2007, AT&T said the cuts are the result of a poor economy and an effort to reorganize and focus on specific businesses within the company, including wireless, broadband and video.

Apple may not have reached its goal of selling 10 million iPhone 3Gs yet, but the company has spurred a large number of consumers to abandon their carriers and flock to AT&T, the exclusive mobile carrier for the iPhone in the U.S.

News reports are circulating that predict Apple is nearing the sale of the 10 millionth iPhone 3G. Apple hasn't confirmed the rumor, but analysts said it's possible. Apple sold one million of the devices in the first weekend after its introduction.

The NPD Group, a market-research firm, reports that 30 percent of the U.S. consumers who purchased Apple's iPhone 3G from its release on July 11 through August switched mobile carriers in order to join AT&T, which holds exclusive U.S. sales rights for the red-hot device.

About half of AT&T's new iPhone 3G customers elected to switch from Verizon Wireless, while 24 percent came from T-Mobile defections, and 19 percent abandoned Sprint, noted Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD.