Sprint on the line for $20 Billion

[Robert_LA]

Thought I would share this:

Sprint Scores IPhone 5 Exclusive Thanks To $20 Billion Deal With Apple? | Fox News

Sprint has entered into an agreement with Apple to purchase over $20 billion worth of iPhones over the next four years, the Wall Street Journal reports -- around 30 million iPhones.
It’s said that Sprint won’t even break even on the transaction until 2014, which is surely a huge risk on Sprint’s part. So why make the deal?
BGR.com has been told that Sprint will be getting the iPhone 5 -- yes the real iPhone 5, not the iPhone 4S -- as an exclusive. And it will be a 4G WiMAX device. AT&T and Verizon will launch the iPhone 4S and get the iPhone 5 some time in the first quarter of next year as an LTE device. Globally, the iPhone 5 might be available as a 4G HSPA+ device.
In this scenario, the iPhone 4S Apple will introduce tomorrow will feature the following:
A low voltage Apple A5 CPU (it won’t be the same as the iPad 2 chip, clock for clock).
Updated front and back camera sensors. FaceTime HD in the front, 8-megapixel 1080p HD video recording in the back.
Multiband 3G Qualcomm chipset — North American & international bands for AT&T and global carriers, North American CDMA & international bands for Verizon and Sprint.
NFC support.
Metal or “premium” plastic on the back case.


Read more: Sprint Scores IPhone 5 Exclusive Thanks To $20 Billion Deal With Apple? | Fox News

[RollingRock1988]

Dan Hesse= Steve Ballmer

[elvin1983]

I saw this earlier, and I'd be shocked if Apple were to really agree to this. For Apple to agree to an exclusivity deal with Sprint, who's network is nowhere near as powerful as AT&T and Verizon, would be insane. People think the iPhone gave the AT&T network fits, just wait till there are millions of iPhone 5's active on the Sprint network... Sheesh...

I think Apple is brighter than this, but I suppose we shall see...

[SharpieFiend]

Originally Posted by elvin1983

I saw this earlier, and I'd be shocked if Apple were to really agree to this. For Apple to agree to an exclusivity deal with Sprint, who's network is nowhere near as powerful as AT&T and Verizon, would be insane. People think the iPhone gave the AT&T network fits, just wait till there are millions of iPhone 5's active on the Sprint network... Sheesh...

I think Apple is brighter than this, but I suppose we shall see...

It is an exclusivity deal - Sprint will be the only American carrier that Apple sells to whose name starts in 'S.'

[jonathon94]

LITERALLY nobody uses Sprint where I live. If this happens, it will be very interesting. I bet sprint will receive new customers.

But of course, is their network ready to handle this? Verizon's is so I personally feel like if anyone gets exclusive rights to the iphone 5 it should be them.

[dalton4L]

Sprint seems to be in kitchen sink mode; when you're trying to literally buy customers away from their carrier and rely on one single phone to revive your company, there are serious issues. Last resort!

[Caymancroc]

20B bucks divided by 30M iphones equals 667 bucks a phone. Why wouldn't Sprint workout a deal where they at least get better than retail pricing? I know the phone has to be made with a special chip but the details of this sound to be off. Just my opinion.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[papped]

Originally Posted by Caymancroc

20B bucks divided by 30M iphones equals 667 bucks a phone. Why wouldn't Sprint workout a deal where they at least get better than retail pricing? I know the phone has to be made with a special chip but the details of this sound to be off. Just my opinion.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Apple sells their hardware at max profit and Sprint is the company that is in the worse position, not going to happen. Apple has no reason to make a deal with them (aka Apple doesn't "need" Sprint).

[mystic205]

IIRC, when att launched the iphone their 3G network footprint was about the size of Sprints 4G today.. and Sprint still has a larger 3G footprint than ATT today so network capacity is not going to be an issue..

as far as exclusivity goes, i call exclusive schmusive.. these deals are all PR and the devil is the details ..exclusive can be by technology, name, time, color and at the end of teh day it is hardly an EXCLUSIVE when it is clearly stated that both ATT and Verizon get the phone next year

it may well make sense for Apple to do this deal..
1. their volume is asssured with the 4S
2. they get to practice a 3G/4G phone i5 with a second tier player and then give a fully working phone to VZ in 6-9mo..

remember the palm pre?...

Originally Posted by jonathon94

LITERALLY nobody uses Sprint where I live. If this happens, it will be very interesting. I bet sprint will receive new customers.

But of course, is their network ready to handle this? Verizon's is so I personally feel like if anyone gets exclusive rights to the iphone 5 it should be them.

[rottonj]

Originally Posted by Caymancroc

20B bucks divided by 30M iphones equals 667 bucks a phone. Why wouldn't Sprint workout a deal where they at least get better than retail pricing? I know the phone has to be made with a special chip but the details of this sound to be off. Just my opinion.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

They make their money on the service and contracts. they dont recoupe the money back on the phones, no carrier does.

[bearcatrp]

Unless we don't know the complete deal, this will kill sprint if they can't pull it off. Hoping sprint gets exclusivity for the next 4 years, don't see them doing it. I've been with sprint 10 years and think they are a good cell company. Buy seems this is a do or die plan. Hope they know what their doing.

[lnichols]

Dumb move Sprint. iPhone may give you some of the bottom feeders of the iPhone4 food chain looking for cheaper unlimited plans, but it will probably crush the network in the process. That combined with the fact that most people who want an iPhone are already locked in to AT&T and Verizon for a year to year and half respectively, so who will be joining Sprint from people locked in contracts? Likely only get some T-Mobile customers tired of waiting for the iPhone and still want a cheap plan, or just keep customers that haven't left for iPhone yet. If you had invested as much money in your network you could have gotten customers with superior service and sold Droids like Verizon did, but instead you just partnered with Clearwire (FAIL) for WiMax and didn't invest enough in the network. Now you are behind the curve and praying the iPhone saves you even though 2 other carriers had it first and still have it.

[papped]

A lot of VZs iphone converts were just migrating from a different VZ handset. Sprint won't be much different and it's pretty much guaranteed they won't have the kind of sales or marketing power of VZ. So yes they needed the iphone (a while back though)... But I don't really see what this kind of move is supposed to do... They still don't really have an advantage over AT&T or VZ other than pricing, which was always true and has not worked thus far.

[mystic205]

Don't agree with the above...if att had not got the iPhone exclusive they would have been in the toilet.. There are many folks who will switch to sprint.. For the price of the base plan w sprint an att user gets all of 200mb data..

The iPhone will stope the bleed of customer and I expect a net gain ..it's a good decision.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com