As a Verizon customer who's been grandfathered into all of the things Verizon has taken from their users (such as cheaper messaging and unlimited 3G/4G data), this would be very disappointing news. I would almost rather there be no iPhone 5 announcement tomorrow with only a 4S than have an iPhone 4S for all and a 5 exclusively for Sprint. I couldn't see them putting all their eggs in one basket, especially not for their flagship device... what I COULD see however is a 4S for Sprint, as well as ATT and VZW, as a migratory device to keep those on Sprint happy with an iPhone on their network and a 5 later for all, so that Apple could maximize profits and keep everybody happy with the releases. It just doesn't make sense monetarily to me for Apple to release their flagship on such a comparatively small network whilst the current moneymakers (ATT and VZW) get stuck with disgruntled users angered at the decision, especially when ATT and VZW have more than enough competitive Android offerings that would likely be chosen by all but the most diehard Apple fans with available upgrades.
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Sprint Commits to Buying $20 Billion Worth of iPhones, To Get Redesigned iPhone 5 Exclusively?
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Even if the i5 is an early '12 model I might be happy. It hurts to say that since I obviously want it now but at this point I'm just hoping the i5 is as awesome as Apple can make it. That it shows how strong they will be even with Steve Jobs stepping down a notch. Not gone... but not CEO any more.
Apple, give us an iPhone 5!!!
Apple, give us an iPhone 5!!!
Well, if this is true and they are getting four years of exclusivity on the new iPhone, sux for me.
Cause I'm not changing over to sprint for that. Sprint is the one carrier I actively avoid (worst frikkin connection ever in my experience in the past. I had to ask my parents to stop calling me on their cellphone cause I could never understand a word they said. And I knew several people in different areas that had the same problem!).
Also, I'm not really sure how this works for Apple cause Sprint is a small carrier... this means their flagship device is going to rely on how well Sprint does (and while Sprint according to this agreed to pre buy a whole bunch of phones, I thought Apple was also going for mind share... hard to do on a small carrier).
Well, hopefully though this means other iPhones are available on the other networks and maybe get a chance at the newer ones the next year. I'll be happy enough getting a not the latest and greatest iphone long as it runs all the apps (and games) that come out.
No idea what I'll do if it ends up being some crap like Sprint ends up with the only new iphone and everyone else for four years is stuck with the 4S as the best (I don't mind the 4S now but it will get outdated and not run the new stuff). I really doubt APple would agree to that though. That would really be putting all their eggs in a very small basket.
Cause I'm not changing over to sprint for that. Sprint is the one carrier I actively avoid (worst frikkin connection ever in my experience in the past. I had to ask my parents to stop calling me on their cellphone cause I could never understand a word they said. And I knew several people in different areas that had the same problem!).
Also, I'm not really sure how this works for Apple cause Sprint is a small carrier... this means their flagship device is going to rely on how well Sprint does (and while Sprint according to this agreed to pre buy a whole bunch of phones, I thought Apple was also going for mind share... hard to do on a small carrier).
Well, hopefully though this means other iPhones are available on the other networks and maybe get a chance at the newer ones the next year. I'll be happy enough getting a not the latest and greatest iphone long as it runs all the apps (and games) that come out.
No idea what I'll do if it ends up being some crap like Sprint ends up with the only new iphone and everyone else for four years is stuck with the 4S as the best (I don't mind the 4S now but it will get outdated and not run the new stuff). I really doubt APple would agree to that though. That would really be putting all their eggs in a very small basket.
Sprint bit off more of the apple than they can chew. I'm not switching to Sprint, I'd give Verizon a spin before that happens. I respect the move though, got give 'em credit on that.
Has Wall Street closed yet? Ha ha! This is BS and I can smell it form the URL.LOL!
Sprint or some rumor-monger is spreading lies to alter stock price. IMHO.
Sprint or some rumor-monger is spreading lies to alter stock price. IMHO.
Did you just post this on Engadget too? There's nothing in that article that says Sprint denies this. Jeez...
I see nothing about a denial in there.
edit: Ninja'd by several.
Interesting stock manipulation on BGR's part though
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A5313e Safari/7534.48.3)
Most stupid rumor EVER.
Why would Apple go back into iPhone exclusivity when it did them so much harm, opening the door for Android and making the problems of AT&T's network appear to be the phones?
Then to add in the WiMax business just drives it over the top. Apple is dying to make a one world model with GSM and CDMA, but they would waste their time on a standard no one is adopting instead of LTE.
Most stupid rumor EVER.
Why would Apple go back into iPhone exclusivity when it did them so much harm, opening the door for Android and making the problems of AT&T's network appear to be the phones?
Then to add in the WiMax business just drives it over the top. Apple is dying to make a one world model with GSM and CDMA, but they would waste their time on a standard no one is adopting instead of LTE.
I was taking "exclusive" as exclusive for an extended period.
If if was a just a couple of months....no biggie....I would wait. Love my iPhone!
Steve
NO...it say's "Sprint Nextel Declines on Report It Committed to Buy 30.5 Million IPhones" RIGHT IN THE TITLE.
and then it sates...."To win the right to carry the device, Sprint had to commit to buying the phones from Apple Inc. (AAPL) whether Sprint could find buyers for them or not, the Wall Street Journal reported."
it DOES NOT say that they have committed to ANYTHING.
Sprint could be getting an "exclusive" on iP5 because they're the only carrier with 4G tech (WiMAX) that Apple is prepared to include right now. The other carriers would get the iP5 when LTE chipsets are mature enough for Apple's use.
Completely speculating here.
Sprint has no reason to buy phones in the quantity suggested unless it comes with exclusive rights.
We all know how much Apple likes to brag and rake in the money.
Apple knows they can keep their fans waiting as long as Apple feels like it.
It's a win / win deal for Sprint and Apple. It makes all the sense in the world.
iPhone lovers are not about to go anywhere, they are unable to deal with anything that lacks the Apple logo.
Their ego is on the line. Defect to another brand... not happening.
It's as simple as that.
We all know how much Apple likes to brag and rake in the money.
Apple knows they can keep their fans waiting as long as Apple feels like it.
It's a win / win deal for Sprint and Apple. It makes all the sense in the world.
iPhone lovers are not about to go anywhere, they are unable to deal with anything that lacks the Apple logo.
Their ego is on the line. Defect to another brand... not happening.
It's as simple as that.
Because the good GSM+LTE chips aren't in volume production and the LTE rollout isn't ready yet in enough of the home market. Exclusivity for the temporary period when there is no other good option is brilliant.
Why wait?
There's no way. There are tons of 3gs users waiting for the iPhone on Verizon and ATT that would be royally upset if Sprint had the exclusive.
This might just be the buy in to get the iPhone at all
This might just be the buy in to get the iPhone at all
...really?
I mean, you just posted the title and you can't read that it's talking about the stock not the rumor?
Are you people THAT short sighted?????
"oh woe is me i cant get the iphone 5 this month i will have to wait 3-4 months when my carrier is allowed to have it"
are you guys kids at Christmas? APPLE wants to make money, bottom line.
if they make 4 million iphones in 3 months and sell them all to sprint exclusivley for only 3 months they get a huge financial incentive. if they sell them to all the carriers world wide at the same time they get no additional money and sell thru the phones all the same.
I beleive this but will be interesting to see it actually plays out tomorrow.
"oh woe is me i cant get the iphone 5 this month i will have to wait 3-4 months when my carrier is allowed to have it"
are you guys kids at Christmas? APPLE wants to make money, bottom line.
if they make 4 million iphones in 3 months and sell them all to sprint exclusivley for only 3 months they get a huge financial incentive. if they sell them to all the carriers world wide at the same time they get no additional money and sell thru the phones all the same.
I beleive this but will be interesting to see it actually plays out tomorrow.
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"Sprint Nextel Declines " means their STOCK declines by 7%....duh...use your brain and learn the language used on Bloomberg if you quote it.
Have you seen how much pent-up demand and hype there is for the iPhone 5? You don't think there are enough people who MUST satisfy their need for immediate gratification to simply switch carriers just to get it? I'm a pretty patient person and I'm perfectly willing to switch, esp for unlimited high speed data.
iPhone users will defect carriers, but they won't defect from the iPhone. This is a very low-risk deal for Apple. And Sprint has nothing to lose. Their choice is to either bet the farm or sit on their laurels and suffocate to death. To me, this is one of the most credible rumors about tomorrow (second only to the speech recognition OS rumor). It's makes sense on many many levels.
BTW, this does remind me of 4 years ago when the first iPhone was released. Everyone wondered whether this would harm Apple to limit itself to AT&T: http://www.peridotcapitalist.com/2007/06/will-people-switch-to-at-just-to-get.html We know the answer to that now and back then the iPhone was novelty without a proven track record (or the sizable App Store it has now).
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How true. I mean, Verizon was losing subscribers left and right before they got the iPhone. They were hanging on by the skin of their teeth. Yup.