Taiwan’s three leading mobile operators, which account for 80 per cent of the country’s connections, reported a drop in profits in September as they faced a jump in marketing expenses leading up to the release of the iPhone 6.

With the device available only on 26 September, it obviously hasn’t yet made a contribution to operators’ revenues.

According to the Taipei Times, a Barclays Bank’s analyst said: “We expect margins to be pressured in the fourth quarter as associated handset subsidies build up before 4G revenue materially kicks in, which we have not seen given the muted mobile service revenue growth trend so far in 2014.”

Market leader Chunghwa Telecom’s net income declined 5.8 per cent in September compared to a year ago, as operating costs and expenses rose 3.8 per cent last month, the Times reported.

Far EasTone’s net income fell 25 per cent while its EBITDA was down 17 per cent in September. Number two Taiwan Mobile’s EBITDA dropped only slightly (0.75 per cent) from a year ago.

The revenue picture was mixed, with Taiwan Mobile’s increasing 8 per cent last month while Chunghwa was up less than 1 per cent.

The race to attract 4G subscribers is extremely tight. Third ranked Far EasTone (with 7.4 million mobile connections compared to Taiwan Mobile’s 7.5 million) led with just under 400,000 connections at the end of Q3, according to GSMA Intelligence data. 4G subscribers account for 5.3 per cent of its total connections. It added 35 per cent of the county’s 4G connections in Q3.

Chunghwa is second with 300,000 4G connections (representing 2.7 per cent of its total connections) while Taiwan Mobile followed with 270,000 connections (3.6 per cent of its total).