T-Mobile Opens Pre-Orders For iPhone 5 Today; Official Release Date April 12; Apple Inc. Gaining On Android Platform In U.S.

Apple and T-Mobile opened pre-orders for the iPhone 5 today, April 5, just one week before the smartphone's official release date on April 12. T-Mobile, with the release of the iPhone 5, becomes the last of the big-four mobile operators to offer the iPhone, following AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint.

Last week, T-Mobile revealed its new Uncarrier plan, which no longer requires customers to sign on to a long-term contract. T-Mobile will instead offer a 16GB iPhone 5 for $99 upfront, with 24 months of $20 payments on its Simple Choice plan, or $579.99 in full, which is $70 less than what an unlocked iPhone 5 bought from Apple costs. T-Mobile is offering the 32GB and 64GB models in either black and white.

The iPhone 5 is compatible with T-Mobile's LTE network and its slower "4G" HSPA+ networks, according to ValueWalk. T-Mobile is the only US mobile provider to offer nationwide HD Voice on the handset.

Yesterday, T-Mobile announced its first customer growth in four years with the customer base reaching 34 million users. Prepaid services have accounted for the bulk of the increase, as the company lost 199,000 net post-paid numbers.

Thus far, it seems as though joining with Apple Inc. has been a good strategy for T-Mobile. CEO and President John Legeregere said that T-Mobile USA has 1.9 million iPhone users, and that every month it is adding 100,000 new iPhone customers.

The cooperation seems to be a good move for Apple Inc. as well; the late Steve Jobs' company has gained ground on the Android platform over the last three months.

Although customers prefer Apple Inc.'s iOS-operated devices, Android platform has the advantage of being offered on multiple phones, so it has remained the top platform worldwide, and in the U.S.

However, the trend is starting to change, and Apple Inc. is starting to catch up. It's unclear whether this trend is here to stay; since Apple's gains could be due to the release of the iPhone 5. With Samsung's Galaxy S3's success and the recent release of the S4, we could soon see an increase in Android's numbers.