It seems that AT&T have been deliberately trying to stop sales of iPhones in there stores. The reason for this? We don’t know. All we do know is that AT&T iPhone activations grew by as little as 3% in the second quarter of this year. It seems that regional sales reatil managers have been instructing store managers to push sales of Android  and Windows phones.

Regional retail sales managers at AT&T have been instructing store managers to pump the brakes on Apple’s iPhone. Instructions handed down from corporate state that customers seeking smartphones at AT&T retail stores should be steered away from Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and towards Android phones or Windows Phonehandsets like the Nokia Lumia 900 instead. BGR has confirmed the directive with three independent sources.

AT&T themselves however came back with this rebuttal:

The idea that we would steer any customer away from a particular device couldn’t be more farfetched.  Our reps do what it takes to align customer needs with the best device for them.  iPhone remains one of our most popular devices, which doesn’t happen by steering people away from it. Our reps are encouraged to try all devices so they are more knowledgeable on our industry-leading smartphone lineup.

However ridiculous this may seem, BGR claim that this came from three independent sources. Either these sources aren’t reliable or perhaps AT&T are trying to cover something up. Perhaps this could all be linked in with the recent attacks on Android phones by Apple and AT&T are showing there unofficial support for the Android side?

Via BGR