3 reasons why the iPhone won't help Sprint very much
Sprint still must confront AT&T-T-Mobile deal, need to convert to LTE, and win new customers
It might sound like a major win for Sprint to begin selling the iPhone for the first time in mid-October, but veteran industry analysts say it won't help Sprint all that much.
Sprint will get the iPhone 5 in mid-October, at the same time that its bigger competitors, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, get the iPhone 5, according to unnamed sources cited in the Wall Street Journal. Both AT&T and Verizon already sell versions of the iPhone.
[ Also check out InfoWorld's slideshow "Before the iPhone: The kings of mobile" | Follow the latest in Apple technology with our Technology: Apple newsletter. | Keep up on mobile developments with InfoWorld's Mobilize newsletter. ]
Sprint won't comment officially on selling the iPhone and Apple won't comment on when the next-generation iPhone will launch, or with which carriers. Even so, a next-generation iPhone is widely expected to surface in coming weeks, one with an improved operating system and a better camera.
While some experts regard Sprint's ability to finally offer an iPhone as a major win for the third-largest U.S. carrier, other disagree. Here are three reasons why selling the iPhone won't help Sprint all that much:
1. Sprint unlikely to win many new customers
"The iPhone is a great device and it will let Sprint hang on to some customers who would otherwise leave [the carrier], but I don't think many customers will move to Sprint because of the iPhone," said Jeff Kagan, an independent technology analyst, in an email. "While definitely good news, I don't see this [sale of the iPhone] shaking the timbers at Sprint."
Added Jack Gold, an analyst for J. Gold Associates: "Unless Sprint has a major price advantage, including really low-cost data plans or some other sales gimmick like free phones, Sprint might not gain all that [many new customers] since many people consider Sprint to be the least desirable carrier from a coverage perspective."
Gold said that while some Sprint customers "would like to get their hands on the iPhone," thus helping sales, the phone is unlikely to make as much of an improvement for Sprint as it did when Verizon got the iPhone 4 in February. (In 2007, AT&T got the original iPhone, exclusively, which helped improve AT&T sales.)
"The iPhone is now becoming a commodity, since it is soon to be available on all carriers," Gold said via email. "So customers will not only choose a phone, in this case the iPhone, but also the carrier they want to work with."
At best, added Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney via email, Sprint's iPhone "probably keeps some customers from bleeding to other networks."
On the contrary, the conventional wisdom shared by a few Wall Street analysts is that Sprint will see customers upgrade to the iPhone, which could draw them inside Sprint stores to buy iPhone accessories, which command high profit margins.
