Personally I think it makes sense. LTE chip sets are not near being usable yet. The iPhone 5 may already be ready, except for LTE. Sprint has had WiMax for a long time now so their chipsets are more mature. So give Sprint exclusive iPhone 5 access for 6 months - that lets LTE chipsets mature and then give AT&T and Verizon an iPhone 5 with a more mature LTE chipset.
We already know there is no LTE iPhone coming until next year. So at best all this does is give Sprint a 4G iPhone sooner.
That might be it - Wimax before LTE. That's enough of a distinction for Sprint but no serious compromise for Apple.
Not saying i believe this rumor, but you know if att/verizon continued to play hardball on a phone that can transfer from one network to another, I would do stuff like this to show them who is boss.
30 million iPhones is really only 15 million customers. Every Sprint user will need to buy 2, one for voice, one for data, since CDMA can't do both at the same time.
Not saying i believe this rumor, but you know if att/verizon continued to play hardball on a phone that can transfer from one network to another, I would do stuff like this to show them who is boss.
Twitter is full of similar echos. Dan Hesse must be smiling now.
So would dual-mode CDMA/LTE. The benefit there being the phone could be used on 4G networks that will exist in more than in twenty cities (ever) in one country of the phone's market.
So is that going to be the big announcement tomorrow? This year's phone is basically last year's phone but all the carriers will have it? If that's the case, okay, it's better than nothing.
I just hope when all these carriers get the iPhone, competition will set in and monthly rates can go down. I love my iPhone, I just don't always like paying a minimum of $85/month to have it.
If there is no iPhone 5 tomorrow, and just a 4s, the one big thing they can do to save face is make everything dirt cheap.
Guys, there is nothing 'cool', 'smart' or 'savvy' about this. A move like this would be, if Apple actually did it, one of THE most idiotic business moves of the year if not decade. That said, it's just a dumb idea and a really bizarro story that somebody dreamed up. Just think about it. In order to believe this is true, one has to accept that:
1) Apple would spend the last 16 months developing a new and groundbreaking design, and then intentionally tie it to a carrier who represents < 18% of the subscriber market in the US, AND:
2) That Apple would do this just because that carrier promissed to buy 30.5 million phones over a four year period (just 7.6 million a year), DESPITE:
3) The fact that AT&T and Verizon sell about 24 million iPhones a year, which would be 116 million devices over the same four period (as opposed to 30), and DESPITE:
4) The fact that it would immediately anger millions upon millions of customers who are currently locked into contracts with Verizon and / or AT&T but who would otherwise be eligible for early upgrades, and DESPITE:
5) The fact that it would massively alienate their current carrier partners.
It's just a stupid, STUPID story, with a capital 'S'.
Hold on quick draw... keep in mind this is NOT an either or story, but a first to market (by about 6 months)story. Lets see, GUARANTEED sale of 30.5million phones from Sprint AND 6 months later NEAR GUARANTEED sales from ATT/Verizon .. in exchang I (apple) spend ~ 500 million on the inerds for sprint... VS just do LTE inerds and maybe later... on my own dime do Sprint. Seems pretty smart business decision by Apple, if true.
Not saying i believe this rumor, but you know if att/verizon continued to play hardball on a phone that can transfer from one network to another, I would do stuff like this to show them who is boss.
Wait... you are saying that as a CEO / business leader, you would permanently alienate a huge portion of your customers, lose out on device sales to a tune of nearly 4 to 1, and permanently alienate the two largest carriers in the nation... to prove you are a macho head honcho?
So would dual-mode CDMA/LTE. The benefit there being the phone could be used on 4G networks that will exist in more than in twenty cities (ever) in one country of the phone's market.
OUCH! Still feels like AT&T is in a good position UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+ parlay.
I am sure the Android fans will claim that Sprint is simply caving in to the media created frenzy in order to market an inferior product (the iPhone) and that only by shoring up their portfolio with the 87 different varieties of Android hardware and software combinations will Sprint survive or remain relevant in the US market. I mean, come on people, Android based devices have a larger screen, a removable battery, AND more buttons on the front than the iPhone, so they are clearly superior. Oh, and don't forget that you have the freedom to try to figure out just where the heck you are supposed to get apps to load on your Android device that are safe and won't be rendered obsolete in 3 months when the Tootsie-Pop version of the OS comes out - no, wait I mean the Fruit-Roll-Up version - no, no wait, the Pop-Tart version.
Oh yeah - and Betamax is better than VHS, just you wait and see.
You're just as bad. Not a single fandroid has chimed in and you didn't even add a positive/negative comment on the article. If it wasn't for android you'd have nothing to say.
Hold on quick draw... keep in mind this is NOT an either or story, but a first to market (by about 6 months)story. Lets see, GUARANTEED sale of 30.5million phones from Sprint AND 6 months later NEAR GUARANTEED sales from ATT/Verizon .. in exchang I (apple) spend ~ 500 million on the inerds for sprint... VS just do LTE inerds and maybe later... on my own dime do Sprint. Seems pretty smart business decision by Apple, if true.
So why would they release it for 6 months to Sprint only? In the same mentioned 6 months if released on all 3 (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) they would sell a lot more than 30 million devices especially during the holidays coming up. Also all the repots say that almost half of the people who own smart phones want to upgrade to the IP5 whether in contract or out of contract. So this reports makes no sense from a logic standapoint and from a sheer numbers standpoint. Sprint can guarantee they will sell 30 mil IP5 but those numbers are already guaranteed and more if released to all 3 top carriers....
I think Sprint will get limited exclusivity, which will not include AT&T and/or Verizon. So, the only carrier it will effect is T-Mobile.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stelligent
For this *rumor*, all so-called sources trace back to a WSJ article. WSJ tends to get accurate scoop when the 12th hour approaches. This also explains the pattern of *leaks* about 4S, to some extent.
On the other hand, is $30B enough to buy Apple?
I wonder if what Spring gets is an iPhone that looks different but otherwise has the same features and specs. Or, perhaps, it's a limited period of exclusivity (say 6 months).
And, how does this shake out in other parts of the world?
Regardless, if this is true, the center of gravity may be shifting.
30.5 million phones on 4 years for $20B, that's $655 / phone if i didn't get lost in all the 0. That doesn't sound like a big discount... And isn't the price of the IP5 going to drop in 12 month like all old IPs ?
So why would they release it for 6 months to Sprint only? In the same mentioned 6 months if released on all 3 (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) they would sell a lot more than 30 million devices especially during the holidays coming up. Also all the repots say that almost half of the people who own smart phones want to upgrade to the IP5 whether in contract or out of contract. So this reports makes no sense from a logic standapoint and from a sheer numbers standpoint. Sprint can guarantee they will sell 30 mil IP5 but those numbers are already guaranteed and more if released to all 3 top carriers....
Because its the deal.
Art of the negotiation.. sprint comes to Apple and says we need the iphone; Apple probable said... 'go pound sand'. ... 'errr... unless'.
Sprint was losing marketshare... what to do, what to do.
So as you point out, Apple alreadys knows they have the sales to Verizon and ATT, now or six months from now... so leverage Sprint to the hilt. Masterful... if true.
I think Sprint will get limited exclusivity, which will not include AT&T and/or Verizon. So, the only carrier it will effect is T-Mobile.
Explain to me how denying the player with just 12% of market share, but allowing the rest of the players to have the device... is in any way a form of 'exclusivity'?
The whole story is just bogus - it completely defies logic and sounds more like an attempt to manipulate stock prices than anything else.
Comments
Personally I think it makes sense. LTE chip sets are not near being usable yet. The iPhone 5 may already be ready, except for LTE. Sprint has had WiMax for a long time now so their chipsets are more mature. So give Sprint exclusive iPhone 5 access for 6 months - that lets LTE chipsets mature and then give AT&T and Verizon an iPhone 5 with a more mature LTE chipset.
We already know there is no LTE iPhone coming until next year. So at best all this does is give Sprint a 4G iPhone sooner.
That might be it - Wimax before LTE. That's enough of a distinction for Sprint but no serious compromise for Apple.
I'll believe it when I see it.
Just believe! You'll see it if you believe it.
30 million iPhones is really only 15 million customers. Every Sprint user will need to buy 2, one for voice, one for data, since CDMA can't do both at the same time.
Not true for WiMAX or LTE.
Not saying i believe this rumor, but you know if att/verizon continued to play hardball on a phone that can transfer from one network to another, I would do stuff like this to show them who is boss.
Twitter is full of similar echos. Dan Hesse must be smiling now.
So would dual-mode CDMA/LTE. The benefit there being the phone could be used on 4G networks that will exist in more than in twenty cities (ever) in one country of the phone's market.
btw LTE is CDMA
I just hope when all these carriers get the iPhone, competition will set in and monthly rates can go down. I love my iPhone, I just don't always like paying a minimum of $85/month to have it.
If there is no iPhone 5 tomorrow, and just a 4s, the one big thing they can do to save face is make everything dirt cheap.
Guys, there is nothing 'cool', 'smart' or 'savvy' about this. A move like this would be, if Apple actually did it, one of THE most idiotic business moves of the year if not decade. That said, it's just a dumb idea and a really bizarro story that somebody dreamed up. Just think about it. In order to believe this is true, one has to accept that:
1) Apple would spend the last 16 months developing a new and groundbreaking design, and then intentionally tie it to a carrier who represents < 18% of the subscriber market in the US, AND:
2) That Apple would do this just because that carrier promissed to buy 30.5 million phones over a four year period (just 7.6 million a year), DESPITE:
3) The fact that AT&T and Verizon sell about 24 million iPhones a year, which would be 116 million devices over the same four period (as opposed to 30), and DESPITE:
4) The fact that it would immediately anger millions upon millions of customers who are currently locked into contracts with Verizon and / or AT&T but who would otherwise be eligible for early upgrades, and DESPITE:
5) The fact that it would massively alienate their current carrier partners.
It's just a stupid, STUPID story, with a capital 'S'.
Hold on quick draw... keep in mind this is NOT an either or story, but a first to market (by about 6 months)story. Lets see, GUARANTEED sale of 30.5million phones from Sprint AND 6 months later NEAR GUARANTEED sales from ATT/Verizon .. in exchang I (apple) spend ~ 500 million on the inerds for sprint... VS just do LTE inerds and maybe later... on my own dime do Sprint. Seems pretty smart business decision by Apple, if true.
btw LTE is CDMA
Nope. Not at all. I once thought the same.
Not saying i believe this rumor, but you know if att/verizon continued to play hardball on a phone that can transfer from one network to another, I would do stuff like this to show them who is boss.
Wait... you are saying that as a CEO / business leader, you would permanently alienate a huge portion of your customers, lose out on device sales to a tune of nearly 4 to 1, and permanently alienate the two largest carriers in the nation... to prove you are a macho head honcho?
Silliness.
Hard to see a move like this from any company for an Android phone...
Money talks, bullshit walks.
So would dual-mode CDMA/LTE. The benefit there being the phone could be used on 4G networks that will exist in more than in twenty cities (ever) in one country of the phone's market.
OUCH! Still feels like AT&T is in a good position UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+ parlay.
I am sure the Android fans will claim that Sprint is simply caving in to the media created frenzy in order to market an inferior product (the iPhone) and that only by shoring up their portfolio with the 87 different varieties of Android hardware and software combinations will Sprint survive or remain relevant in the US market. I mean, come on people, Android based devices have a larger screen, a removable battery, AND more buttons on the front than the iPhone, so they are clearly superior. Oh, and don't forget that you have the freedom to try to figure out just where the heck you are supposed to get apps to load on your Android device that are safe and won't be rendered obsolete in 3 months when the Tootsie-Pop version of the OS comes out - no, wait I mean the Fruit-Roll-Up version - no, no wait, the Pop-Tart version.
Oh yeah - and Betamax is better than VHS, just you wait and see.
You're just as bad. Not a single fandroid has chimed in and you didn't even add a positive/negative comment on the article. If it wasn't for android you'd have nothing to say.
Hold on quick draw... keep in mind this is NOT an either or story, but a first to market (by about 6 months)story. Lets see, GUARANTEED sale of 30.5million phones from Sprint AND 6 months later NEAR GUARANTEED sales from ATT/Verizon .. in exchang I (apple) spend ~ 500 million on the inerds for sprint... VS just do LTE inerds and maybe later... on my own dime do Sprint. Seems pretty smart business decision by Apple, if true.
So why would they release it for 6 months to Sprint only? In the same mentioned 6 months if released on all 3 (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) they would sell a lot more than 30 million devices especially during the holidays coming up. Also all the repots say that almost half of the people who own smart phones want to upgrade to the IP5 whether in contract or out of contract. So this reports makes no sense from a logic standapoint and from a sheer numbers standpoint. Sprint can guarantee they will sell 30 mil IP5 but those numbers are already guaranteed and more if released to all 3 top carriers....
btw LTE is CDMA
Wrong, LTE is GSM based. All of VZWs LTE phones have a SIM card.
For this *rumor*, all so-called sources trace back to a WSJ article. WSJ tends to get accurate scoop when the 12th hour approaches. This also explains the pattern of *leaks* about 4S, to some extent.
On the other hand, is $30B enough to buy Apple?
I wonder if what Spring gets is an iPhone that looks different but otherwise has the same features and specs. Or, perhaps, it's a limited period of exclusivity (say 6 months).
And, how does this shake out in other parts of the world?
Regardless, if this is true, the center of gravity may be shifting.
So why would they release it for 6 months to Sprint only? In the same mentioned 6 months if released on all 3 (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) they would sell a lot more than 30 million devices especially during the holidays coming up. Also all the repots say that almost half of the people who own smart phones want to upgrade to the IP5 whether in contract or out of contract. So this reports makes no sense from a logic standapoint and from a sheer numbers standpoint. Sprint can guarantee they will sell 30 mil IP5 but those numbers are already guaranteed and more if released to all 3 top carriers....
Because its the deal.
Art of the negotiation.. sprint comes to Apple and says we need the iphone; Apple probable said... 'go pound sand'. ... 'errr... unless'.
Sprint was losing marketshare... what to do, what to do.
So as you point out, Apple alreadys knows they have the sales to Verizon and ATT, now or six months from now... so leverage Sprint to the hilt. Masterful... if true.
Nope. Not at all. I once thought the same.
you're right. LTE uses OFDMA, as can WiMAX.
I think Sprint will get limited exclusivity, which will not include AT&T and/or Verizon. So, the only carrier it will effect is T-Mobile.
Explain to me how denying the player with just 12% of market share, but allowing the rest of the players to have the device... is in any way a form of 'exclusivity'?
The whole story is just bogus - it completely defies logic and sounds more like an attempt to manipulate stock prices than anything else.