If you can find the silver linings, the news is finally getting a little better over at the number three largest carrier in the States after countless quarters of brutal numbers. Sprint still isn't turning a profit or earning net customer adds, but it's continuing to stem losses by posting its first sequential rise in revenue in almost three years, clocking just under $8.1 billion for the quarter; that's still less than the revenue it posted a year ago, but hey, at least it's an improvement over
Q4 2009's roughly $7.8 billion. All told, that works out to a net loss of $865 million, which is also better than Q4's $980 million. Net wireless customers fell by 75,000 -- considerably better than Q4's 148,000 -- but net
postpaid customers fell by a much larger 578,000, suggesting that Boost Mobile's aggressive marketing is probably working. That's all well and good, but it also likely means that ARPU is on a downward trend; Sprint claims it was flat sequentially and down a dollar from $56 to $55 year-over-year. All told, it seems the company's fortunes are improving by baby steps -- but is it fast enough? And how much is the
EVO 4G going to mix things up?
posted April 28th 2010 2:09PM
Everything is proceeding according to plan
@Lord Vader
What plan? To increase the unemployed line?
@metaesapuet - You really think Lord Vader cares about unemployment?
@Lord Vader
is that what she said to you? I thought vader was a beast..
@metaesapuet. Now if i told you that, i would have to kill you
^ , v , < , > ...clueless (in the pic)
I can smell the hope!
I'm expecting a rather large turn around after the EVO release.
@Matt da Brat - Which I will be contributing to come August :D
@Matt da Brat
i really really hope for a 4g webOS phone. Also, that it has a completely flat ack, cuz tapping on my pre while its sitting on a table stinks...
@Matt da Brat
I have a iPhone 3G, just completed the 2 yr contract, want a new smartphone. I'm real excited about the EVO 4G especially since sprint announced they'll be installing 4G in Pittsburgh PA. So many cool smartphones to choose from but only 1 with 4G.
@Brokinarrow - I spoke with the Sprint rep at the mall yesterday. I asked when the EVO was coming out. He told me mid June!
@freddyace Yep, especially since the iPhone 4G video calling is going to be wifi only.
The EVO is going to be the first phone to have every feature I want. HDMI out, video calling, nice camera with flash, microSD card slot, WiMax, tethering, 720p video capture, nice big screen, a smooth modern OS, great plan pricing, and a decent CPU/chipset/SOC.
Initial reports on battery life look pretty good as well (8+ hours) and rumored pricing is awesome ($199).
The only way it could be better is if it had a Tegra 2 inside and featured Froyo out of the box. I can wait for that though.
I'm completely on board for the EVO.
@Matt da Brat
You dont have to capitalize every letter in Evo, it makes you look pretty uneducated considering it isnt an acronym
@Matt da Brat
android looks like crap and its most downloaded app is the ugliest task manager anyones ever seen
@Natal Sorry, I guess I didn't read that in the Engadget posting rulebook. You haven't gotten laid in a few months, have you?
@Natal "You dont have to capitalize every letter in Evo, it makes you look pretty uneducated considering it isnt an acronym"
huh, that's funny. Considering every Sprint slide, every Engadget post, and the official Sprint page spells it "HTC EVO 4G". Looks to me like a name, not an acronym.
@Matt da Brat
Well after the disappointing Pre launch, Sprint better up its game if it wants the EVO to be a hit.
I'm talking the "Droid Does" quality of advertising, not the "creepy alien lady who is going to suck out my soul" quality of advertising.
Not really. The Palm Pre was an even bigger deal when it premiered exclusively on Sprint, and even that couldn't bring in the numbers. They just can't keep with Verizon when it comes to being a CDMA provider, and everyone else goes to AT&T for the iPhone.
The EVO is "just another Android device" as far as the masses are concenred, even if it is powerful. It won't be Sprint's savior.
We'll be seeing the EVO on Verizon before the end of the year.
@Elranzer The "masses" barely know what Android is. Did you ever notice how the Droid commercials only casually mention the Android OS at all? That's because few people know enough to care.
@Matt da Brat i agree.
@Realityism: Which is why Verizon's marketing is effective and Sprint's creepy alien girl thing fails.
@Elranzer
Evo will not be on verizon ever. Sprint worked with htc to make this custom phone.
By the way i am so getting one in october!!!!
@MrHashbrown
holy crap couldn't have said it better myself! All they will need is a cool looking ad that details the phones capabilities... That should excite the masses enough :)
@Matt da Brat -This Is Da Best Comment I READ All Day!
Sprint should really market the hell out of the Evo. $200 is definitely the sweet spot.
They should, but they won't. Sprint just doesn't have the capital to pay for effective marketing.
I'd consider that Sprint EVO phone... if... the 4G signal in my area didn't stop miles from my house... and if the signal we did have didn't suck...
@Flaystus
The Evo is dual band so even if you don't currently have 4G in your area, the phone will rock it on 3G.
@Scape3d
I think you under estimate how weak the signal is in my area.
@Flaystus
I feel you dude, I had the same problem in my house all last year. I called them about it a few months ago and they sent me an AIRave unit and I have had full bars in my house ever since! And the unit was totally free!
If the Evo is all it's cracked to be, this will be a record year for Sprint.
Oh yeah baby! Bring on that gorgeous phone.
@derek533 We know from the HTC Incredible reviews that Android 2.1 with senseUI is a stunning combo. We know that HTC makes good hardware and Snapdragon is pretty quick. We know that most people are pretty happy with WiMax. We also know what specs the phone will have.
I don't see any way that the EVO (or Evo, if you're a stickler about capitalization) will do anything but rock everyone's pants off.
I don't understand the problem with sprint. Because they have good coverage good phones and good prices. But there still losing customers
@mawells787
It's all public perception. I can't completely blame all the negative perception either because a few years back it was definitely justified but at the current state of Sprint, it simply isn't the case anymore. On all fronts, Sprint is now a premier carrier. People don't know this unless they're currently using Sprint though.
@mawells787
Think Xbox 360 in Japan. I can't fathom the hate for Sprint. I've had them for years and has never been tempted to leave.
@Scape3d
That's not actually true at all. Ask any of the Nextel folks that have been "using" Sprint since the "merger". Ask them if things have gotten better? I guarantee you that the answer will ALWAYS be invariably NO!
Sprint has done more to cripple Nextel and iDEN than it has to help itself. Numbers don't lie. Their total CDMA subscriber base has not grown since the merger! Their iDEN base, however, continues to shrink. They lost yet another 500K+ post-paid iDEN users last quarter (though they added 480K pre-paid users to make up for it). Last I checked, post-paid users generate higher revenues and margins than do pre-paid. So, what does that tell you? It tells me that Sprint is losing the game since those iDEN users are moving to AT&T and Verizon.
Will the HTC EVO 4G change things? Honestly, I doubt it.
The contracts I've set up with Sprint:
-$30/month w/ Touch Pro 2: 500min, unlimited text/data + weekends/7PM
-$60/month w/ Pre (soon to be EVO): 450min, unlimited text/data/mobile2mobile +weekends/7pm = pretty much unlimited everything for me
Plus I hooked up my family with:
$110/month (25% employee disc tho.) with 3 lines (Pixi/BB Tour/Pre): 1500mins (I think), unlimited text/data/mobile2mobile + weekends/7pm, again pretty much unlimited everything
Can't get better than that.
@detusueno I agree. There's just so many good deals and tech with this company. I think Sprint is just about to really turn that corner and here's why:
1) Phones like the Moment, Hero, Pre, Blackberries and EVO 4G (www.sprint.com/evo),
2) a VIP program like Sprint Premier (http://www.sprint.com/premier), where I can upgrade EVERY 12 MONTHS, AND
3) even less expensive plans like these (from fatwallet.com - http://www.sprint.com/everythingplus, Email: russ.s.mcguire@sprint.com, Last 3 digits of employee ID: 383)
4) Sprint and Clear have 4G (www.sprint.com/4g) with unlimited data in 28 markets covering 40M people. Will have 120 million covered by the end of the year (including NY, LA and San Fran).
Why pay more, drastically more in most cases, for the same or even lesser service? Especially when you factor in the lack of 4G at VZ, ATT and T-Mo.
IMO, that's just throwing away (beer) money each month! :-)
@skemme Dude, I don't know what you're smoking. Sprint has good deals on their plans (I'm a customer) but their phone line-up is still the worst in the biz. Until the EVO comes out, every other carrier has a phone that is better than every phone Sprint offers. VZW has the Droid. AT&T has the iPhone. T-Mobile has the Nexus One (sort of). The Pre has aging hardware that was never that high-quality to begin with. I don't even understand why you'd mention the Moment, which might just be the worst Android phone on a major carrier to date (at least the G1 was the only of its kind when it came out). Blackberries are boring. And the Hero is just a myTouch.
I'm rooting for Sprint, but they have to do more than sell a lot of EVOs: They need to make the EVO be a standing declaration that they're going to stop being followers when it comes to their device offerings, and at least meet their competition if not best them on that front.
@detusueno This is why I invested pretty heavily in Sprint's stock. I called it with Hyundai's turn around six years ago. With their investment in turning things around and showing they care about their customers, Sprint can only go up at this point.
BTW, why I love Sprint: 4 lines of Everything Data for ~$95/mo. :)
@Realityism I disagree. I have the Pre and while i know that the hardware quality has something left to be desired for some, but my experience with it and the OS has been great. It's nothing a faster chip won't address, really. Hope Palm survives to make a 4G phone.
Wife and several friends have Moments and Heros (myTouch clone or not) and love them. All in all, Sprint has a strong line up, IMO.
ATT may have the iPhone, but just about all my iPhone friends hate the network and will jump at the first opportunity the iPhone moves. The device is only half the equation.
The EVO is THE super smartphone yet to be released and is in a class all by itself. Can't Wait.
@Realityism have you even played with a moment? It may only have 1.5os but is still a solid phone. Never gives me a problem. The screen is just amazing especially while using youtube or sprint t.v.! The keybord is probably the best out there for look and feel and even engadget has said that it should be used on more phones. I have used just about every android phone out there and moment is probably the all around champ. Now just waiting 2 more weeks til that 2.1 upgrade!
@Realityism
The Pre was one of the first phones with the cortex8 pocessor
I love Sprint. I used to despise them but times have a changed
@unibrow
"boom roasted likes this"
*back* (sorry for the double post)
Look what happens when you actually put out a competitive plan for your customers and offer them some of the best phones on the market!
I'd be all over Sprint if the gf wasn't so hell bent on keeping Verizon.
@Hazdaz
your balls, she has them. Seriuosly, price the service plans from each and ask her why she still wants to pay more. Also, sprint provides free roaming... On VZ's network. So you're pretty much covered.
@edoles
I'm jumping on HER family plan, so it's not right to complain - I get to save a bunch of money and get a much better phone with lots better coverage than my current carrier (one guess as to who that carrier might be).