Sprint Nextel “reported a wider second-quarter loss than in the previous year,” Dave Kansas reports for Bloomberg.
“Sprint, without an iPhone, is struggling to keep in sight of larger rivals such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T, both of whom are selling mad amounts of the Apple device,” Kansas reports. “While Sprint added 1.1 million net new customers in the quarter, analysts fret about the level of leakage. The company said it lost 101,000 contracts during the quarter. Sprint cited the dreaded iPhone, including very cheap older models of the phone, as a big reason for customer defections.”
Full article here.
“The second-quarter loss widened to $847 million, or 28 cents a share, from $760 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier, the Overland Park, Kansas-based carrier said today. Operating income before depreciation and amortization fell 12 percent to $1.31 billion, missing the $1.48 billion average estimate of analysts compiled by Bloomberg, as client retention costs rose,” Crayton Harrison reports for Bloomberg.
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“Sprint lost 101,000 customers on monthly contracts after dropping 114,000 in the previous three-month period, starting a new losing streak after reporting a gain in the lucrative users in the fourth quarter of 2010 for the first time in more than four years,” Harrison reports. “The carrier is promoting handsets such as HTC Corp.’s Evo to compete with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, which both now carry Apple Inc.’s iPhone.”
MacDailyNews Take: Knockoffs not cutting it when pitted against the real thing?
Harrison reports, “Sprint was expected to lose 25,000 contract subscribers, according to the average estimate of six analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Verizon, the largest wireless carrier, added 1.3 million contract subscribers last quarter, luring customers with the iPhone and its new high-speed network, called 4G. AT&T, the second-biggest carrier, pulled in 331,000 contract customers.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: iCal’s bouncing with a couple of rather perceptive quotes:
Apple’s “iPhone” isn’t really a phone at all. It’s really a small touchscreen Mac OS X computer, a Mac nano tablet, if you will. Here’s how misnamed the iPhone is: Some people are complaining that Jobs didn’t spend enough time on the Mac in his keynote! Folks, iPhone is not only a Mac, it’s the most radical new Mac in years! What’s to stop Apple from making a 12-inch model (and larger, and smaller) one of these days… and calling it a Mac tablet?
…The main thing about the “iPhone” is that it’s really a pocket Mac. It has email, SMS, full-featured Web browsing, and much more. But, beyond that, it is a platform that’s just sitting there waiting for Apple to sell software for it. Just imagine games with the large multi-touch display and the built-in accelerometer! – SteveJack, MacDailyNews, January 9, 2007
The mobile-phone supply chain is a highly complex machine with countless moving parts, including phone makers, component suppliers, telecom carriers, government agencies and infinitely fickle consumers. Well, Apple just blew the whole damn thing up with its new iPhone. – Michael Comeau, Real Money, January 11, 2007
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]