• Sprint to bet the company on the iPhone

    by
    bigsnake49
    Published on 10-03-2011 04:27 PM
    2 Comments Comments
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    New details, not previously reported, give a rare look at Apple's closely guarded dealings with carriers, and reveal just how high the stakes are for Sprint.

    Mr. Hesse told the board the carrier would have to agree to purchase at least 30.5 million iPhones over the next four years—a commitment of $20 billion at current rates—whether or not it could find people to buy them, according to people familiar with the matter. In order to keep the price people pay for the phone low and competitive with rivals, Sprint would be subsidizing the cost of each phone to the tune of about $500, which would take a long time to recoup even at the high monthly fees iPhone users pay.

    Directors debated what they had just heard. Some worried the payoff would be too long in coming. One member questioned whether the multiyear deal might outlast the iPhone's popularity. To sell that many iPhones, Sprint would have to double its rolls of contract customers, convert all of them to the Apple device or a combination of the two.

    "This is a bet-the-company kind of thing,'' said a person familiar with Sprint's decision-making. The projected hit to the company's operating income is "staggering," the person said.

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    Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...#ixzz1ZkLoXQFn

    Wow, I hope it's worth it! If they fail, they might as well shutter the company up.
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Sprint to bet the company on the iPhone started by bigsnake49 View original post
    1. Categories:
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    Tags: apple, ios, iphone, sprint
    Comments 2 Comments
    1. primetechv2's Avatar
      primetechv2 - 10-03-2011, 11:55 PM
      Wow, talk about setting yourself up for failure. Can anybody say TOUCHPAD?


      What is the current state of the iPhone? Let's see... there's the old, kinda crappy one (3Gs, 3G, etc). According to Consumer Reports, it's the only iPhone worth mentioning due to the new generation's massive signal issues, and it's been long passed up by superior devices on every other carrier. And there's the almost-out-of-date iPhone 4, with its uber-scratchable glass front, uber-scratchable glass back, and in between a metal strip that begs to help its users lose signal.

      I'm sure the iPhone 5 will make up for this whole thing by making a huge corporate stink. There are only two things wrong with the latest device I can predict without being a prophet: (1) it's by Apple and (2) Steve Jobs won't be there to sell it to his usual crowd of zombies.
    1. ppk287's Avatar
      ppk287 - 10-04-2011, 12:37 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by primetechv2 View Post
      Wow, talk about setting yourself up for failure. Can anybody say TOUCHPAD?


      What is the current state of the iPhone? Let's see... there's the old, kinda crappy one (3Gs, 3G, etc). According to Consumer Reports, it's the only iPhone worth mentioning due to the new generation's massive signal issues, and it's been long passed up by superior devices on every other carrier. And there's the almost-out-of-date iPhone 4, with its uber-scratchable glass front, uber-scratchable glass back, and in between a metal strip that begs to help its users lose signal.

      I'm sure the iPhone 5 will make up for this whole thing by making a huge corporate stink. There are only two things wrong with the latest device I can predict without being a prophet: (1) it's by Apple and (2) Steve Jobs won't be there to sell it to his usual crowd of zombies.
      Ouch, I was getting ready for Zombie apocolyse and now find i are one! It is a rather risky thing for sprint to do even if they were the only ones in the market selling iphones. I have the older 3G and am very miffed at the cat mouse game being played out. I have tolerated this current phone in order to purchase the new iphone, now it may not be available. CAN you say android??