Sprint's earnings call reveals Motorolas; Q included

We're sure Verizon's been having a blast with their American exclusivity on the Motorola Q, but the fun and games are about to come to an end -- and another domestic carrier's Windows Mobile-loving customers have cause to celebrate. COO Len Lauer spilled the beans during Sprint's earnings call Thursday, revealing that the company is planning to pick up the honorary RAZR of smartphones (the Q, that is) sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. Speaking of RAZRs, the Moto love continues with a SLVR and RAZR (the V3m, perhaps?) coming down the pike. Between this and the announcement that their Rev. A deployment is ahead of schedule, the good news nearly outweighs the bad stemming from the "earnings" part of the earnings call -- not surprisingly, some analysts are speculating that profits fell short due to Sprint's failure to offer a RAZR thus far.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[QmanFoo @ Aug 3rd 2006 7:13PM]

I wonder if the Sprint version will have Wi-Fi? See this post...supposedly the GSM version will, hopefully Sprint will get it WiFi too (yes, I know Sprint is CDMA)

http://www.qusers.com/article.php/2006062312194235

[CTG @ Aug 3rd 2006 7:26PM]

PCS Intel says that the other RAZR-family handset is more likely the KRZR K1m. They reported on this last week.

http://www.pcsintel.com/content/view/1443/35/

[STANK @ Aug 3rd 2006 8:01PM]

WOOT!

[STANK @ Aug 3rd 2006 8:04PM]

ITS TIME................. MOTO Q RAZR SLVR

[Joshi @ Aug 3rd 2006 8:09PM]

Wow...about time!

Sprint's phones have been behind the competition for a while. The RAZR is about to be replaced, but hey...better late than never, right?

Maybe it'll be that green one.

[flamer's grill @ Aug 3rd 2006 8:15PM]

It'd better be one of the next-gen razrs, and I really don't see why it would be anything but. Sprint already has a "RAZR" in the Katana and a V3m (sans memory card) in the a900. What's next for slim phones? The RAZR K1, of course.

[Jeffrey M Foster @ Aug 3rd 2006 8:18PM]

the Samsung A900 is better than the RAZR anyway.... oh well.

Generally Sprint is WAY behind the "cool phone" curve... other wise Sprint is great. I wish they'd get on top of their shit and start releasing some decent phones in a timely manner.

[James @ Aug 3rd 2006 8:59PM]

Whats the target date for Q4?

[_man1c_ @ Aug 3rd 2006 9:47PM]

i like the look of the Q.. not sure if im gonna get it though, but if i upgrade from my free phone this one will be the one i look at, or something similar in style.

[Benson Leung @ Aug 3rd 2006 10:06PM]

Sprint would be a big deal for people looking at the Q but not interested in paying the $80/month minimum for the data plan from Verizon. Sprint's EVDO is so much cheaper, and I'll strongly consider this, as my contract with my old carrier has just expired.

[thought @ Aug 3rd 2006 11:57PM]

Let's see: Verizon adds 1.8 million customers, Cingular adds 1.5 million, and Sprint adds only 210,000 postpaind customers (and 498,000 prepaid).

That's sorry...there's no other word for it. Especially given the fact that Sprint's pricing is generally perceived as lower. So even with lower prices, Sprint is sucking wind.

The reasons abound, but primarily are due to a lower quality network and poor customer service. Sure they are late in getting new phones, but that's only because they have a lousy network, and no manufacturer wants a hot new device to debut on their lousy network. Also, before this year, Verizon showed that a carrier with a great network but lackluster phones could still do well. Now Verizon even gets the hot new phones first.

Sprint has a long way to go to turn things around, and their executive team and the analysts have admitted as much.

[Jeff @ Aug 4th 2006 2:49AM]

You have it completely wrong. Sprints network is far faster than Verizon. Sprint is capable of 2.2 mbit. I just bought a couple razr's from verizon a few days ago because my contract with sprint had expired. Sprint is behind in the phones, that RAZR is what I wanted, but Verizon has the marketing thing down pat. They are marketing geniuses. The verizon store was packed. I expect verizon will fare pretty well in the coming years. Everyone I know uses verizon and calls on the verizon network are free. But Sprint has always been ahead with the network, maybe not the best strategy. Verizon's "America's best network" slogan is just a marketing gimmick, but it works, obviously. Just puffery.

[Truthbringr @ Aug 4th 2006 3:21AM]

Hey Jeff, you're all over the road there, buddy - "sprint is faster than verizon - its CAPABLE of 2.2mbit" - and then u go on to say verizon is great too.. WTF. Who cares about 'theoreticals' - SPRINT BLOWS CHUNKS and if you've had Sprint phone service or known anyone that's had it for any length of time, you'd know that SPRINT IS THE AOL OF CEL CARRIERS, period. Personally I hate them all, and Verizon's plans are overpriced, but Verizon ownz in terms of national voice/data. For international, T-mobile is still the best bet as far as being able to take your u.s. t-mobile phone&account overseas and it still working. I've put the Sprint and Verizon CDMA cards side-by-side and done speed tests (speakeasy.net/speedtest), etc. and there isn't enough difference to bother talking about. Shame on all of them though, because the most l33t WM% smartphone devices are made by HTC currently (i.e. the Imate SP5m and Starflip) yet no U.S. carrier has them. It's all politics, friends, as in carriers getting a nice profit margin out of a device being the primary concern regardless of whether its the best piece of hardware available. By the way, PHUCK verizon for crippling their EVDO PDA's out-of-box to disallow use as a wireless modem. The smarter among us will use the hacks but the masses that sign up for a separate PCMCIA EVDO card + an EVDO PDA and run 2 x $80 contracts are victims.

[Truthbringr @ Aug 4th 2006 3:26AM]

and one more thing I forgot to mention, Mr. Jeff: "sprint networks are faster than verizon" because NO ONE IS ON THEM, which oughtta tell you something about sprint. Before you say "hey even better, thank you" I'd be weary of putting faith into something others are staying away from.

[nerdo @ Aug 4th 2006 4:05AM]

I am in a touring rock band and I use Sprint all over the country. I have been with them for 3 years. I love the service. Verizon is decent, but I've found that one of my band members who is still with Verizon is stuck without service in alot of places where Sprint has it (although it could just be the phone's ability to pick up the signal). Lots of our friends in other touring bands stick by Sprint as well. T-mobile is horrible... all the people I know who use it have their sidekicks running on the T-mobile network, and they use a seperate phone and network for calling. Its rediculous. Anyways, every carrier has a downside... but I love Sprint.

[Ian Jardine @ Aug 4th 2006 11:11AM]

I've got to agree with nerdo that Sprint has the best network, in my experience, in NA. I also hear that Verizon is struggling to get new signups lately. That's observation from a few independant wireless shops.
Having said that about Verizon I feel bad becaise I attended the John Fogarty peformance at the "Verizon" performing Arts Center at Charlottle last Friday! SO Verizon's doing some good.

[Desert @ Aug 4th 2006 11:18AM]

This is great. It will be nice with EVDO. Lets hope sprint doesn't lock down Slingbox.

Choose the network that is right for you. I'm so tired of people trying to convert others to other brand names without them asking. "Mac sucks, coffee sucks, ipods suck", get over it brainwashed fanboys. If I wanted your opinion on it, I would have asked you.

I've heard that all the cellphone carriers suck from multiple people in my area. Verizon is no better than Sprint in coverage for me. Just because they market that they have the best coverage doesn't mean they do.

[IwantTouchScreen @ Aug 4th 2006 2:14PM]

STFU Truthbringr, as an owner of a Sprint phone for the last 5 years, I can tell you first hand that over the years, their services has been great and has gotten so good, it's better than Verizon at times.

BTW, T-Mobile's coverage sucks. Many people I know that have it are convinced cell phones don't work indoors.