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Some time ago I wrote an article for MacDailyNews suggesting that Apple should buy Sony. Apple lovers were generally shocked and against that idea 10 to 1. Well, having licked my wounds from that article, I am sticking my neck out again….
The big news in Kansas City lately has been about Sprint continuing to bleed customers by the million. Sprint has tried to correct a long corporate tradition of putting its bottom line first and customers last in its planning and business policies. At Sprint it has been understood that customers are suckers to be baited, trapped and exploited. Apple Computer has always put the end user first and the bottom line really takes good care of its self, thank you very much.
Apple is everything Sprint is not. Apple is Innovative, a technology leader, and has world class customer service. The AT&T exclusive on iPhone is going to to expire in a year or so. We know Apple has been looking hard at wireless infrastructure and has expertise in that area. Wireless devices are becoming so common place in our lives, we really couldn’t live without them any more. We open our laptops and expect them to hook up to the internet, without us even thinking about it.
The WiMax or IEEE 802.16 Wireless format is a “last mile” solution. It is sort of a city-wide WiFi network that connects over wide areas with high speed and a lot of bandwidth. Sprint has been working on developing such a network and Apple could buy into that new system by buying Sprint at an attractive price. This would allow Apple TV and the iPhone to have a home network advantage. With control of the device, the iTunes store and the network, Apple could give us the experience we expect from them. Jobs is not one to leave money on the table anyway.
Enter the financial meltdown of the economy in general and Sprint in particular. Sprint is devalued right now and at the right price, the established wireless system and spectrum rights Sprint holds are quite a valuable asset and a good long term investment. Their reputation has made the word “sprint” an albatross and selling the company to a white knight is the only way for the stock holders to come out of this mess.
Sprint should go to Apple and offer an attractive way to sell out to them. Apple has $25 billion in cash and credit to buy Sprint. The management at Apple and the Apple brand name would turn the wireless company we call “Sprint” around quickly. Apple would have to fire the dead wood management and build the world class management team to make the #3 wireless company in the US prosperous again. With long range wireless, the existing cell phone network and a lock on the iPhone, Apple has a reason to consider vertical expansion in the wireless market with the hoard of cash it has accumulated. There are issues with the format of the Sprint Network and the current iPhone but the basic cell network at Sprint is the only thing good about them.
I have stocked up on bandages and my ego has recovered from the last article, so what do you Apple folks thing about this idea?
Greg Mills is a die-hard Macintosh user, MacDailyNews reader, and faux art painter who works in the Kansas City area.
No, Apple should buy Verizon, fire the whole customer service division and start over.
One of the original goals behind the iPhone was (yet another attempt) to turn the cell providers into “dumb pipes.” Apple got a lot further towards that goal than any other company has lately, but the 3G is both an admission of (temporary) defeat, and a line in the sand in that regard.
There is no value for Apple in a cell phone provider company. they don’t have anything that is worth the purchase price.
Also, sprint has WiMax, but you can use WiMax without Sprint and the infrastructure they would be buying is only good for *portions* of the USA. Apple’s iPhone business is already world-wide, owning some WiMax equipment in Sacramento is not going to help them with Holland and South Africa.
No, apple should buy NVIDIA. Sprint’s customers are bottom feeders and don’t match up to apple demographics.
Terrible idea.
No reasons required.
Unless you’re brain dead that is.
Your both right and wrong about this jeremy. Yes, Steve did admit temporary defeat by succumbing to the market’s demand for 3G services. Really Steve wanted to wait for 4G networks but it was going to take too long.
So now we have the 3G iphone.
For now.
But as we all know Steve likes to think and plan for the long term. And he sees the wireless future that is coming and wants to prepare for it. Plus, I’m sure he doesn’t like dealing with AT&T;which despite Apple’s resistance to AT&T;’s control still gets pushed around by them a bit.
Steve does not like to be pushed around.
I really think in the near future Apple will be owning a cell phone company so they can build a nationwide 4G network. I just know which company.
Reasons not to buy Sprint:
1) existing ATT partnership
2) CDMA
3) cost to re-attract customers to a dying brand (Sprint) or re-brand its dying network
4) Sprint is US-based; the iPhone is globally marketed.
5) distraction bringing Apple management up to speed on the fine details of the cellular communications industry
6) Apple needs cash for continued improvements to its existing product lineup, especially AppleTV, the Apple Mini, the PowerMac tower, and the new SnowLeopard.
7) Apple need not own other companies in order to improve its business. It can forge partnerships or buy large equity stakes.
8) If Apple goes on a reckless buying spree, then they would waste money and become another hated Microsoft. Better to be good than big.
@starnyc
As a Sprint customer I don’t appreciate your judgement regarding my compatibility with Apple. You should be more sensitive.
P.S. – Can I lick the underside of your PC Pro?
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Didn’t Jobs mention when the iPhone was released that Apple wants to “jump on the gsm bandwagon?” Buying a cdma carrier is completely opposite of Apple’s plans.
Second, I doubt Apple wants to go down with that sinking ship. You forget about the flip-side as well… there’s plenty of pundits who will slate Apple at every opportunity.
And what happens when new cell phones/manufacturers come knocking on Sprint/Apple’s door? Would it be business as usual or what Apple say “nothing that competes with our cdma iPhone?” Of course Apple would have to let them in or face the FTC. Then, really, what does that gain Apple?
think global.
buy yourself a passport and leave the continent.
No way, I worked for Verizon for the last 5 years (now I’m back in grad school) and the telecom industry has margins Apple shouldn’t ever get involved with.
They need to stick to their core competency – making awesome computers and outsource the telecom piece. As both an avid Apple user and a person that owns a number of shares I would absolutely vote no to buying Sprint, it’s a dead company and it could take that great Apple name and drag it in the mud with them.
Talk about filling space. There are so many other possible accusations that make sense if Apple was a takeover company like Cisco but they are not. And why would they jeopardize the deal with ATT for the sake of a losing brand like Sprint
Buying Fone would be a much more interesting proposition. Not that that will happen either.
By the way, I meant that I just don’t know which company Apple may buy. But I seriously think Apple wants to build a next generation wireless infrastructure in the US that STEVE HIMSELF (oops I mean apple) controls.
No, Apple should throw an investment carrot to GM. Joint venture a new “future car” that is fully integrated with the web. GM needs the cash and Apple needs to get into that game. Can you imagine an iPhone (connected to a screen size X4) integrated as an entertainment/information center? Merely attach your iPhone and it becomes part of the car’s web services.
Microsoft & Ford have demonstrated market interest, but it is poorly executed. By proving what can be done, Apple can grab other auto industry execs attention and finally get the attention that it deserves.
Buy Sony? Buy Sprint? completely moronic, your article is a waste of bytes. You have no business sense.
So this is where everyone is…
I think Apple would be better off going in this direction
http://www.wirelessinnovationalliance.org/?gclid=CLX3hbXW7ZYCFRPZDAodEFMisA
or is the same?
wow, lets all go buy seats on the titanic?
Also, Greg, nice work on the finishes. I spent several years in the 90s doing less elaborate detail, mainly subtle textures that were less dramatic (like the ‘Blue Wash’, ‘Metal’, and ‘Burnished Texture’) and know what a pain/pleasure they are to create.
Horrible idea for these reasons:
1. AT&T;contract still has a couple of years left on it
2. AT&T;seems to be willing to bend over backwards to promote the iPhone and do what Apple wants.
3. Sprint is declining rapidly
4. Wireless carriers are like PC box builders – pretty generic, similar product with little differentiation. Most people couldn’t care less which carrier they used so long as their phone works
5. HUGE increase in R&D;costs to keep networks evolving
6. MASSIVE maintenance on existing hardware, much of which is obsolete right now
and finally . . .
7. A COLOSSAL waste of $25 billion
No Apple should not buy Sprint and they should get away from AT&T;as quick as possible. I have Sprint and they really don’t care about their customers. And, having been a previous AT&T;customer I have refused to buy an iPhone because I WON”T become an AT&T;customer again. The only reason I have stayed with Sprint is the slightly better coverage where I live. Having supervised a 911 center through Phase Two compliance I saw who had the best coverage. By a cat whisker it was Sprint but, there were all pretty sad. Currently I have an iTouch to go with my Sprint phone. Still get all the joy joy of owning an Apple device that can connect me to the internet and provide all the cool syncing Mac Apps and No AT&T;.
Why buy Sprint. It cost Apple nothing to just let them bleed out and shut them self down. Buy up the equipment in the bank fire sale for 10 cents on the dollar or less.
Would rather they buy one in China!
Interestingly, both AT&T;, a GSM carrier, and Verizon, a CDMA carrier, have selected LTE (Long Term Evolution) for their 4G technology, while Sprint is moving forward with WiMax. I don’t really know beans about this, but here are some basics:
• LTE download speeds of 326Mbps (w/20MHz bandwidth)
• LTE upload speeds of 86Mbps (w/20MHz bandwidth)
• Scalability (operates @1.4-20MHz)
• TDD/FDD Modes
• Reduced latency to 10 milliseconds (<100 milliseconds from active to inactive)
4G Sprint: available sooner — by 2009 in some areas.
4G AT&T;/Verizon: not available until 2012-2015
If Sprint sticks with the 1900MHz frequency for 4G, new WiMax phones would remain compatible with old cellular repeaters.
One of the really bad ideas I have seen. Sprint is dead. The body just hasn’t fallen over yet.
I left Sprint, for AT&T;, because of the iPhone.
Of course, I didn’t hesitate one bit before doing so, as their service was atrocious.
Perhaps Jobs should plot the takeover of AT&T;? I can imagine Steve right now in his office hatching some scheme to take AT&T;for himself…erm…I mean for Apple.
steve: “MUHOOHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!”
The acquisition of Sprint would only benefit Sprint. Therefore, it won’t happen.