They account for it over time ("subscription accounting), but I believe get it all at once. It's goofiness required for GAAP accounting IIRC. This is why carriers often post lousy numbers after a big launch even though it means a lot of future revenue--those $350 subsidies add up quickly.
That's pretty wacky. So from an accounting perspective, the money just disappears for a while? If the phone companies have to post the loss immediately but Apple posts the earnings over time....
Not saying you're wrong. The world of accounting is just odd sometimes.
It doesn't disappear, it's noted, but just not counted as received. It is wacky, but makes some amount of sense and makes revenue more even. It helps lessen the incentive to stack a quarter with revenue even though it starves the next quarter (someone else's problem).
It seems to relate with software updates being assumed:
> Based on research into what allowed this to happened, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was instituted to require certain minimum standards of financial accountability. Among its many rules is a provision that states that companies can't immediately book revenue for a product if the complete product has not yet been fully delivered.
