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Sprint Follows Instinct to Battle iPhone
20 Jun, 2008
Sprint released its main competitor to the iPhone with an aggressive entry price point. The Instinct, manufactured by Samsung, will be priced at $129.99, a direct shot across the iPhone bow, which is priced at $199 (or $299 for a better version). The Instinct offers many of the same features of the iPhone, minus the fanatical following. Sprint will market the Instinct through their retail footprint, website, and through telesales. It will also be sold through an exclusive retail window at Best Buy from June 20 - August 28.
The Instinct mimics the iPhone in many ways, including a touchscreen, visual voicemail, and advanced data and web friendly features. Unlike the iPhone, the Instinct also has a slide out QWERTY keyboard. Sprint is marketing the Instinct as their “… first EV-DO Rev A consumer-centric device,” referencing the consumer appeal of the iPhone and 3G broadband capabilities. Sprint needs all the help it can get. We’re sure the iPhone has contributed to Sprint’s customer hemorrhaging problem of late, which has been averaging one million+ customer defections per quarter this year.
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Telecompetitor is a leading industry blog covering the telecom competitive landscape. We provide insight, analysis, and commentary on the issues and implications of the evolving telecom competitive landscape.
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Time to Prepare for DOCSIS 3.0 is Now
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Second quarter results for broadband growth were a tad underwhelming. There are any number of factors which probably contributed to this slowdown, with the economic slowdown and housing crisis certainly towards the top of the list. But growth is also slowing because broadband penetration has grown considerably over the past few years, now ranging somewhere between 50% to 60% (depending on who you ask), and is beginning to slow down. There certainly is more room for growth, but at some point in the near future, broadband penetration will slow even more as it approaches saturation. It’s anyone’s guess what saturation is, but I would bet somewhere around 75% penetration of households (as a national average - individual markets will vary widely). From a service provider’s point of view, that suggests that posting continuing net adds of broadband customers will increasingly involve convincing a competitor's broadband customer base to switch service.