Analyst Claims Sprint iPhone Likely Before Christmas

[MacRumors]

Barron's reports on a new research note from Citadel Securities analyst Shing Yin claiming that the iPhone is likely to debut on U.S. carrier Sprint sometime before Christmas of this year. Yin notes that with Verizon shifting to tiered data plans beginning tomorrow, Apple likely has additional motivation to strike a deal with Sprint, which continues to offer the unlimited data plans preferred by Apple.

Timing may not depend on exclusives with Verizon and AT&T, writes Yin, as he thinks both carriers are unlikely to try and delay a Sprint introduction of an iPhone for legal reasons. Sprint would want the phone before Christmas, and "we see little reason for Apple to hold back."

Yin points to Sprint's competitive service plan pricing as a significant opportunity to draw in new customers, particularly if the carrier is able to launch with the next-generation iPhone simultaneously with AT&T and Verizon.

As always, analysts' comments should be taken with a grain of salt, and Yin's comments in particular appear to be based primarily on speculation and inference.

Yin is not the first analyst, however, to suggest that a Sprint iPhone may appear in the relatively near future. Back in mid-May, Jeffries & Co. analyst Peter Misek claimed that Apple will be bringing the iPhone to both Sprint and T-Mobile by the end of the year and an Apple job posting looking for a carrier engineer in Kansas City, Missouri near Sprint's headquarters has similarly helped fuel rumors of a Sprint iPhone.

Article Link: Analyst Claims Sprint iPhone Likely Before Christmas

 

[wordoflife]

This would definitely be good, especially if Sprint chooses not to be greedy [like AT&T/Verizon] and keep their prices as is.

I'm willing to bet that T-Mobile could still support itself as an individual company if they got the iPhone (and subsequently would not need to sell to AT&T). Heck, I'd consider switching to T-Mobile if they got the iPhone (though I am an AT&T customer for the past 7 years).

Too bad it will be too late for T-Mobile by then.

Glad to see it on Sprint though. I like my GSM phone and it's features, but perhaps I would buy it.

 

[jared52]

I'm curious how one becomes and analyst and get's paid for it. Can I just throw out speculation on the endeavors of various companies and have people compensate me for my prognostications?

 

[pewra]

I'm curious how one becomes and analyst and get's paid for it. Can I just throw out speculation on the endeavors of various companies and have people compensate me for my prognostications?

Sounds about right.

 

[rumz]

Since Apple has explicitly stated that the iPhone is no longer exclusive, it would make total sense to get the iPhone on as many carriers as possible. I've long felt like AT&T exclusivity helped serve as a springboard for Android devices to become popular.

Case in point: I have a younger brother who's been digging Android phones for a couple years now. He was looking forward to some of the new models this fall, until I told him it was completely possible that there'd be an iPhone on Sprint this fall. Now when I ask him about new phones he's like "oh I'm gonna wait and see about the iPhone first." He'd take an iPhone over Android any day, he's just not hardcore enough to change carriers for it (esp. since he's on a family plan).

 

[jclardy]

I really hope so. As long as Sprint doesn't come up with some iPhone specific plan that charges more money than their current smartphone plans.

It would be nice if iPhone 5 wasn't carrier locked and had a dual network chipset for CDMA/GSM networks, meaning you could use it with any carrier.

I might miss begin able to use data and voice at the same time (Tethering) but I can deal with that if I am saving $10-20 a month on my phone bill.

Also, please give us unlimited data with free tethering

 

[nagromme]

I'm curious how one becomes and analyst and get's paid for it. Can I just throw out speculation on the endeavors of various companies and have people compensate me for my prognostications?

It’s not as simple as that.

(Kidding!)

 

[macduke]

I'm curious how one becomes and analyst and get's paid for it. Can I just throw out speculation on the endeavors of various companies and have people compensate me for my prognostications?

Absolutely. If you have a degree, lol.

I hope this is true. Sprint can't be any worse than AT&T and I'm from KC where Sprint is headquartered. Hopefully the wireless will be decent there if I get on Sprint, as I'm likely to move back there after graduation since I have some job offers lined up. Sprint has some really great plans (actually not so great now that I read up on them, see below), and what would be even better is if Verizon bought Sprint and I was grandfathered onto an unlimited plan.

Ok so I just checked Sprint's website, and I'm not too excited about their plans either. While their "Everything Data" plan that includes everything you could want except unlimited minutes (450) is only $70/mo, they also say at the bottom that they add a $10 fee if you get a smart phone, lol, making it $80. But I suppose that's not too bad if you're single. Their family plans are kind of tricky too. Like if my wife got an iPhone too, "Everything Data Family" with two lines sharing 1500 minutes plus two $10 smart phone fees makes it $150/mo. We don't text much but want some texts, so we would have to part it out to get it cheaper. So we get the basic $70 700 minutes option, add data to both lines, its $40 per phone when factoring in the extra $10 charge! Then adding 300 texts would be $5/line. I could probably get by with iMessages, so it would be a total of $155! More expensive for fewer messages. So I guess Sprint is a no-go unless they come out with a better plan for iPhone, which they might. $40 data isn't going to cut it. And their commercials always make them seem so cheap, lol.

 

[wordoflife]

Absolutely. If you have a degree, lol.

I hope this is true. Sprint can't be any worse than AT&T and I'm from KC where Sprint is headquartered. Hopefully the wireless will be decent there if I get on Sprint, as I'm likely to move back there after graduation since I have some job offers lined up. Sprint has some really great plans (actually not so great now that I read up on them, see below), and what would be even better is if Verizon bought Sprint and I was grandfathered onto an unlimited plan.

Ok so I just checked Sprint's website, and I'm not too excited about their plans either. While their "Everything Data" plan that includes everything you could want except unlimited minutes (450) is only $70/mo, they also say at the bottom that they add a $10 fee if you get a smart phone, lol, making it $80. But I suppose that's not too bad if you're single. Their family plans are kind of tricky too. Like if my wife got an iPhone too, "Everything Data Family" with two lines sharing 1500 minutes plus two $10 smart phone fees makes it $150/mo. We don't text much but want some texts, so we would have to part it out to get it cheaper. So we get the basic $70 700 minutes option, add data to both lines, its $40 per phone when factoring in the extra $10 charge! Then adding 300 texts would be $5/line. I could probably get by with iMessages, so it would be a total of $155! More expensive for fewer messages. So I guess Sprint is a no-go unless they come out with a better plan for iPhone, which they might. $40 data isn't going to cut it. And their commercials always make them seem so cheap, lol.

The $10 fee is only for 4G smartphones so unless the next iPhone has 4G (unlikely) you shouldn't be paying that fee.

And no for sprint+verizon! Haha.

 

[macslayer118]

Sounds like those "analyst claims" we had about Verizon for the last 2-3 years... just wait until Apple is ready, people...

 

[chrmjenkins]

Sure a sprint iPhone is very possible, just don't expect WiMax. Ever. Sprint will come on the LTE bandwagon or they'll never have a 4G iPhone.

 

[dvswede]

I hope sometime soon unlocked iPhones can be used on sprint "subsidies" like Virgin etc. They offer pretty decent pre-paid plans that for me are a better deal then ATT/Verizon. I don't travel enough to need a great national plan. I don't use the phone app that much, relying more and more on video calls, chatting and e-mails.

So my hope is that paying for a unlocked phone (i.e cost upfront) I will be able to use a (3g) iPhone on a pre-paid system and allowing me to switch provider as deal changes.

There is a chance the next iPhone can do this if it truly becomes a phone that handles both CDMA/GSM in a single model.

 

[PlutoPrime]

I love analysts. They sit somewhere and analyze... stuff.

It must be a fulfilling job to spend your entire life predicting what everyone else _might_ do, and in the end not really doing anything yourself.

 

[seinman]

The $10 fee is only for 4G smartphones so unless the next iPhone has 4G (unlikely) you shouldn't be paying that fee.

That used to be the case, but now all new smartphone activations require the $10 per month premium data add-on.

 

[burnout8488]

That used to be the case, but now all new smartphone activations require the $10 per month premium data add-on.

Unfortunate but true.

The real bargain on Sprint is for the SERO and Employee Plus Referral Plan customers.

I pay $46/mo for unlimited everything Blackberry on SERO-P. I am praying that the iPhone is eligible to be activated on this plan as well. Even if I have to pay another $10-20 in fees that I KNOW Sprint is going to create (iPhone Fee, Premium Data Fee, Premium Retina Display fee, etc...) it's still a bargain.

 

[imahawki]

I'm curious how one becomes and analyst and get's paid for it. Can I just throw out speculation on the endeavors of various companies and have people compensate me for my prognostications?

These quotes about products pop up because of the general relate-ability by the average person but that's not what these analysts do. The person quoted if you click the link is a financial analyst who tries to understand Apple's current business strategies, competition, product lineup, management philosophies, sales targets vs. actual sales, trends, and yes, new products with the ultimate goal of setting a target price for their stock... It requires significantly more than just guessing since BILLIONS of dollars and the analysts job is at stake. These people usually have and advanced Finance degree and a decade(s) of experience in financial services, investment banking etc. They're not always right but they're not just "guessing".

 

[Ugg]

I hope sometime soon unlocked iPhones can be used on sprint "subsidies" like Virgin etc. They offer pretty decent pre-paid plans that for me are a better deal then ATT/Verizon. I don't travel enough to need a great national plan. I don't use the phone app that much, relying more and more on video calls, chatting and e-mails.

So my hope is that paying for a unlocked phone (i.e cost upfront) I will be able to use a (3g) iPhone on a pre-paid system and allowing me to switch provider as deal changes.

There is a chance the next iPhone can do this if it truly becomes a phone that handles both CDMA/GSM in a single model.

That would be great if the iPhone was carried by Virgin Mobile. Their unlimited smart phone plan is $60 a month and while that is $35 more a month than I pay now, if it meant being able to use an iPhone instead of an android based phone, I'd be the first to sign up.

I'm not so sure that I want to pay $649 for a phone though...

 

[Digital Skunk]

Unfortunate but true.

The real bargain on Sprint is for the SERO and Employee Plus Referral Plan customers.

I pay $46/mo for unlimited everything Blackberry on SERO-P. I am praying that the iPhone is eligible to be activated on this plan as well. Even if I have to pay another $10-20 in fees that I KNOW Sprint is going to create (iPhone Fee, Premium Data Fee, Premium Retina Display fee, etc...) it's still a bargain.

Agreed! My wife and I being grandfathered into a 4 phone family smartphone plan with unlimited everything and 1500 minutes a month for $150 is enough to keep us from whining about the iPhone. We'll stick to our Androids until (if ever) the iPhone comes to Sprint.

Once it does though . . . . I wouldn't mind paying another $20 a month extra. Although, once again, having a larger 4" screen has gotten all of us spoiled, so the iPhone will have to come with a larger screen, since none of us like squinting.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

Unfortunate but true.

The real bargain on Sprint is for the SERO and Employee Plus Referral Plan customers.

I pay $46/mo for unlimited everything Blackberry on SERO-P. I am praying that the iPhone is eligible to be activated on this plan as well. Even if I have to pay another $10-20 in fees that I KNOW Sprint is going to create (iPhone Fee, Premium Data Fee, Premium Retina Display fee, etc...) it's still a bargain.

Actually the REAL bargain on Sprint is using Virgin Mobile prepaid (which still uses Sprint's network) and spending only 25 bucks a month for 300 voice minutes and unlimited data service (good if you don't talk much). Course that means you would have an Android instead of an iPhone so there is a trade off that a lot of people wouldn't be able to live with. It will be interesting to see if these prepaid iPhone rumors come to pass and if they do what carrier it will be on and what effect that will have on the industry.

 

[ratzzo]

Seriously, where do these all "analysts" come from, and what are their proof?

Every 'analyst' news turns out wrong in the end or are blatantly easy to 'analyze'. It's pretty obvious the iPhone 5 will be out before Christmas, and if there were to be a Sprint version, this would be the ideal time to present the product, rather than half a year later when the "oooh!" effect has worn off.

 

[dvswede]

That would be great if the iPhone was carried by Virgin Mobile. Their unlimited smart phone plan is $60 a month and while that is $35 more a month than I pay now, if it meant being able to use an iPhone instead of an android based phone, I'd be the first to sign up.

I'm not so sure that I want to pay $649 for a phone though...

Agreed. I find that the each iPhone model keeps up better and better. I honestly feel no need to go from my current 4 to the next '5'. Not sure what they could offer that would make me upgrade. I'm thinking the '4' might even be good for 3 years or more as I'm not a gamer.

So seen over more then two yeards, and having a phone where I can switch between pre-paid carriers it seem worth it to me.

That said I doubt it will happen.

 

[SpinThis!]

it would make total sense to get the iPhone on as many carriers as possible. I've long felt like AT&T exclusivity helped serve as a springboard for Android devices to become popular.

Precisely. Android is absolutely killing Apple—simply because it's not on as many carriers. It would be like only getting iPods at the Apple store instead of virtually everywhere else you can.

I too know tons of people would who would love an iPhone but don't want to switch to VZW or at&t to get one. There's a few regional CDMA carriers around here that offer better coverage and slightly less costly plans than both VZW or at&t. Before the iPhone came out '07, I was on USCellular, one the best regional carriers, and it would be great to go back to them.

The hard work of developing a CDMA phone is done and there is apparently no exclusivity on Verizon—so let the floodgates for other carriers begin. It would certainly would be cool to see the iPhone 5 get released and have Schiller/Jobs or whoever presents it as "among the the reasons we wanted to wait until September to release the iPhone 5 was to get it onto as many carriers as possible."

 

[gorgeousninja]

These quotes about products pop up because of the general relate-ability by the average person but that's not what these analysts do. The person quoted if you click the link is a financial analyst who tries to understand Apple's current business strategies, competition, product lineup, management philosophies, sales targets vs. actual sales, trends, and yes, new products with the ultimate goal of setting a target price for their stock... It requires significantly more than just guessing since BILLIONS of dollars and the analysts job is at stake. These people usually have and advanced Finance degree and a decade(s) of experience in financial services, investment banking etc. They're not always right but they're not just "guessing".

I'm afraid that if you truly believe that these experts 'analysis' is anything than more than mere guessing then you are either one yourself or someone who is too easily parted with their money... And you know what they say about that.

 

[NiKeZz]

The $10 fee is only for 4G smartphones so unless the next iPhone has 4G (unlikely) you shouldn't be paying that fee.

And no for sprint+verizon! Haha.

Actually, the $10 fee is now for all smart phones. Regardless if they are 3G or 4G. I just signed a contract with Sprint. That really for what you get is cheaper than AT&T or Verizon. Believe me I did 2 months of research before I chose Sprint. but back to the point, Sprint levied the $10 fee to all smart phones to eliminate the bullying of 4G owners.

 

[urkel]

Wanted: Professional Analyst.
High notoriety, no experience needed. Must have ability to make up obvious assumptions and present them with authority. No credibility required. Must provide own pooper scooper.