http://www.bgr.com/2011/10/03/sprint-guarantees-to-buy-over-...
Where one to entertain this crazy notion though the reasoning could center around Sprint's WiMAX deployment and the iPhone 5's need for higher bandwidth. Should the much rumored "Assistant" feature of the new iPhone require a bigger pipe to the Internet to function, then this could be plausible.
Yet in the end, why? Apple has only expanded their supported carriers since 2007. Centering on Sprint in the hope of forcing the hand of AT&T and Verizon in the US is a fools errand. They would be effectively shrinking the market they worked so hard to expand into. Seems nuts.
There's a better chance that Tim Cook will eat an iPhone than announce a Sprint exclusive.
(Again, doubtful, but it would address that problem.)
I left Sprint to get an iPhone. If I need to rejoin Sprint to get the next iPhone, that's no problem.
You have to figure how much is your time really worth?! All the AT&T network b.s. (esp in San Francisco & NYC) that we've had to deal with costs me and my gf much more than the cancellation fee ever will. That said, the cancellation fee is still a load of crap.
My wife, however, makes at least 60 minutes of calls on more days than not, keeping in touch with friends and family (basically all the social lubrication I do with email and Google+). For her, the network effect is incredibly strong: all her friends and family are on Verizon, so she is very hesitant to switch as she gets the in-network minutes free. It was a huge deal for her when I announced I wanted to leave Verizon (for a Virgin Mobile Android) and how many minutes that would add to her plan.
I think a lot of people are loyal to their network not because of what they get from it, but about the people they know on it.
Sprint has unlimited mobile to mobile for plans with data, so as long as the other person is on a mobile line (probable since they are on Verizon), the call is free.
If this did happen, I'm not sure what the knock-on effect for Sprint is. Anyone who wants an iPhone has one. The Verizon thing is over. All those people are locked into contracts. I don't think we'll see lines out the door on release morning for iPhone 5 and Sprint.
Just give me a decent amount of minutes I'll never use, maybe 4-5g data/mon with no tethering and unlimited texts for something close to what the Europeans get service for. If carriers want to play price war, its about damn time. AT&T and Verizon aren't going to play that ball unless someone blinks.
I know a few people still on the 3GS, out of contract, and looking for an upgrade. If the iPhone 5 came out on another carrier (especially with an unlimited plan), they'd be happy to jump ship.
It seems likely to me that Sprint made this commitment in order to get access to the iPhone at all. But an exclusive on their network makes no sense at all for the relatively small deal (from Apple's perspective) being described here.
- It may not possible to produce an LTE iPhone 5 for either Verizon or AT&T right how (or for any other country), as the LTE chipsets are not ready and LTE deployments are limited. However, it may be possible in six to nine months.
- WiMAX chipsets may be more mature than LTE, and Sprint's LTE deployment may be widespread, making it possible to produce such a phone for Sprint.
- Sprint has promised to buy 7.5 million iPhones a year, which is a whopping 31% of US iPhone sales
- The depth of the Sprint commitment effectively means there is no room for Android on that carrier.
So, if Apple's choices are:
a) Produce non-LTE phone for AT&T and Verizon, only to obsolete it six months later in order to compete with LTE phones running Android.
b) Give Sprint temporary six to nine month "exclusivity" to a phone that they could not produce for anyone else anyway in return for 30% more U.S. sales and killing Android on Sprint
... then it's plausible for them to choose b.