Verizon has had the iPhone for awhile now though, being a first-timer on Sprint, I would have figured at least 2 million, maybe even 3, especially since they agreed to purchase so many.
Also, 1.8 is not 2...
I'm convinced it goes back to the old 'Ewwwww Sprint' reputation that keeps getting dragged behind them by people that either:
A. Had Sprint back in the '90s when they only covered the freeways and charged for roaming and to call customer care and don't realized they've upgraded (just like everyone else since then) or had terrible coverage back in the day.
B. Had talked themselves into some crazy insane discounts and almost-free service (I'm not talking about SERO)--and when Sprint started auditing accounts from 2005 (when they changed to a billing system that didn't allow basically abuse) and removed these that should have never been there in the first place they cried "billing errors that they refuse to fix!!" on the internet and to friends and to anyone that will listen--which when the average shopper hears of this, gets spooked.
or C.
Got sold an IDEN device from an unknowing rep because they wanted a rugged phone, then *****ed about the coverage, slowwwww data and generalized this experience to all Sprint phones.
I have a friend who works in an Apple store, and from what he sees, the Big 2 outsell the Sprint Iphone 3 to 1 or more--and that's with the unlimited data clearly visible. It's because either an Apple rep has a Sprint horror story that happened to them or a friend, or the customer has a Sprint horror story that happened to them or a friend. He also said there are some extra activation steps that Sprint needs that take axtra time and that right there can steer reps to push the big 2 (the big 2 are automated vs. Sprint needing a rep on the line)
To me, it seems that it's still a *PR* problem as much as anything... and although it's getting better from a CS standpoint, I don't know what they can do besides start matching Verizon tower-for-tower even in the middle of nowhere (or get rid of the "roaming" designation in the PRL and make everything look native, as well as dropping the roaming caps) to get rid of the bad coverage perception--which would be easier now that they have 800. Of course it looks like they don't even want to convert all their IDEN sites to CDMA in areas where there is no native Sprint CDMA and it would be reletively cheap to do so vs. build new... so fat chance of that I reckon lol
It seems to me that the issue is that Sprint is in a PR position of having to show twice the effort/twice the progress/go WELL above and beyond expectations/do something even the Big 2 haven't done to get people to try them again due to things from the late 90's and around Nextel merge time. Unfortuneately they don't even have the money to match the Big 2. They can't even buy their way out with advertising (which they could... if they had Verizon's agency and ad budget)
I'm convinced it goes back to the old 'Ewwwww Sprint' reputation that keeps getting dragged behind them by people that either:
Both A, B, C statement can be overcome with better Marketing....I'm think Sprint/Hesse are waiting until Network Vision/LTE launches are well underway then they are going to go on a Marketing Blitz.
Verizon and ATT both have double the Subscribers of Sprint so there are going to be more iPhone sales to subs of those carriers. People don't break contracts and switch carriers as easily as people think...
ATT alone is still the iPhone carrier they sold more iPhones than Sprint and Verizon combined, why because the time they had they iPhone exclusivity they were able to snatch customers and keep them there for the most part. As people come out of contracts they will decide to leave or renew, but the thought of a mass exodus from ATT is laughable at this point. Sprint and Verizon will probably never sell as many iPhones as ATT, that exclusivity is still serving ATT well to this day.
That's the look I get when people see my phone. Then I get the "their phones don't work anywhere".
The amount of people that still think Nextel and Sprint run off the same network is sad. Many people I know left Nextel and would not give Sprint a look because of it.
I'm convinced it goes back to the old 'Ewwwww Sprint' reputation that keeps getting dragged behind them by people that either: ....
I have a friend who works in an Apple store, and from what he sees, the Big 2 outsell the Sprint Iphone 3 to 1 or more--and that's with the unlimited data clearly visible. It's because either an Apple rep has a Sprint horror story that happened to them or a friend, or the customer has a Sprint horror story that happened to them or a friend. He also said there are some extra activation steps that Sprint needs that take axtra time and that right there can steer reps to push the big 2 (the big 2 are automated vs. Sprint needing a rep on the line)
LOL. I have a few friends there too and they say the same thing. They cringe when a Sprint customer comes in to upgrade or worse, open a new line. They had to set up a printer on the floor b/c Sprint wants them to print out a contract and have the customer sign it. And often when they are on the line with the Sprint rep they will try to get the Apple employee to upsell the customer or ask them to go paperless. It's no wonder they would not recommend Sprint!
I agree with the eww factor as well. I'm the only one I know who uses Sprint in my area of NJ. Everyone else has gravitated to VZW or ATT. It's even easier to find T - Mobile users around here. Maybe if Sprint tried a little harder. Like maybe putting some corporate stores around instead of relying on resellers at kiosks. Even the few corporate stores they have that I have been to in the past six months are pretty lousy. Full of dummy phones except for the iPhone and even then they had one of those missing. Not very inviting.
Every area is different. I am sure if most people in my area saw a T-Mobile phone they would say "what's that?"
You might get "What's that?" but you won't get "Why would you go with THEM?".
In my area (Western Washington), T-Mobile would be the one worthy of the reputation that is usually thrown on Sprint--they don't roam with AT&T (vs. Sprint, which can roam with their potential partner, Verizon), and between Seattle and Portland have done very little to expand their coverage away from I-5--and in many areas they still have GPRS, which is slower than 56k dialup--and yet the other day my new neighbor was over visiting and we started talking phones. He asked me what mine was (Epic) and who my carrier was--as soon as I said Sprint, he immediately said "You actually like Sprint?"--to which I immediately said "You actually like T-Mobile?" (he has a Samsung Sidekick).
The response was "Well, at least they don't lie to me..."
Turns out, he was sold a Sprint phone at Radio Shack back in 1999 and was told that there was coverage in a particular location by the rep. Well, he got the phone, there was no coverage, called customer service who said they were working on the tower in that location and that the coverage would return in a few weeks and not to worry about his contract since it was an outage in the area and not representative of the service he would receive... of course that time rolls around, no coverage and he calls to cancel after he's had enough. They nail him with an ETF... so someone strung him along long enough to keep him on the line until they could nail him with an ETF. That would tick me off too.
... and I believe what this guy says. I've had Sprint for a VERY long time, and their CS back in the day did all sorts of weird crap. Plus he went to Radio Shack. Lesson #1 is never to buy anything from there--but I remember back then that Sprint and US Cellular was all that Radio Shack had--and Sprint had the coolest phones of any carrier.
At any rate, we'll see what happens. I hope Hesse whips out some BIG marketing bucks when LTE come along...
I have to really search hard to find a sprint store near me. At times I even forget they are a possibility in my area, so I'm sure lack of presence hurts them in the long run at least in certain areas.
I have to really search hard to find a sprint store near me. At times I even forget they are a possibility in my area, so I'm sure lack of presence hurts them in the long run at least in certain areas.
You know that has to be hurting them. Verizon and ATT have stores and resellers on almost every corner on major thoroughfares in a large town. Sprint meanwhile has a few stores and a couple of resellers. I don't care for dealing with those that resell the service as they are not the easiest to deal with when a problem comes up. It is hard to sell something when you are barely have a presence in the minds of potential customers. I rarely see Sprint commercials or billboards anymore so that is another lost avenue in this area.
You know that has to be hurting them. Verizon and ATT have stores and resellers on almost every corner on major thoroughfares in a large town. Sprint meanwhile has a few stores and a couple of resellers. I don't care for dealing with those that resell the service as they are not the easiest to deal with when a problem comes up. It is hard to sell something when you are barely have a presence in the minds of potential customers. I rarely see Sprint commercials or billboards anymore so that is another lost avenue in this area.
In the St. Louis area, T-Mobile has come out aggressive as all get out. Ads everywhere! Probably playing to AT&T's slipping around here. Verizon as well. Not hearing as much for Sprint.
Gotta love Engadget headlines "spent" and "committed to purchasing" are not synonymous terms. Anyway, I thought that this $15.5B figure was already common knowledge...
Originally Posted by lennyj17
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