Verizon Wireless activated 2.2 million iPhones during the first quarter, bolstering the company’s profit margins, CNNMoney.com reported.

Verizon Wireless began selling the Apple Inc. smartphone on Feb. 10 and was on pace to sell 4 million of the devices over a 90-day period, compared with the 3.6 million that AT&T Inc. sold during the quarter.

Verizon also said 906,000 customers were added under contract during the quarter as a battle rages on to attract and retain smartphone customers. By contrast, AT&T added 62,000 customers.

“There was an influx of customers wanting the iPhone on Verizon, some of whom were existing customers but many of whom switched,” said Todd Day, a wireless industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

Apple said Wednesday that it sold a record 18.65 million iPhones in the first quarter, a 113 percent increase from the year-earlier period. Both Verizon and AT&T reported more than $5 billion in wireless data revenues, up $1 billion from a year ago.