US Wireless Seen Contracting After IPhone Binge

The US wireless market, long the fastest-growing sector in the telecommunications industry, looks like it’s headed for a wall.

Sales of wireless contracts, the most lucrative segment of the business because it locks in monthly payments over long periods, may have shrunk for the first time ever in the first quarter. One big reason for the sharp reversal: Soaring iPhone sales in late 2011 may have satiated consumers’ appetites for wireless plans. A decline would mark a turning point for the previously rapid-growth business, leaving carriers such as AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel fighting over a shrinking pool of customers. A slowdown also forces device manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung Electronics to battle more intensely for customers.