On Second Thought, This iPhone 5 To Sprint Story Is Still Crazy
October 4, 2011
Late yesterday, BGR reported that Apple has decided to give the iPhone 5 to Sprint/Nextel exclusively. Since that time, we’ve been trying to figure out if this news is legitimate or just plain silly. For now, we’re placing our bets on the ridiculous.
As a summary, Sprint has apparently guaranteed Apple $20 billion to become the exclusive U.S. carrier of the next-generation iPhone. With that, the No. 3 carrier is promising to sell 30.5 million iPhones over the course of four years.
For AT&T and Verizon, this news means being stuck with the iPhone 4S, said to be a cheaper iPhone 4 with fancier guts inside.
Why It Could Happen
Even for Apple, $20 billion is a lot of money. And with today’s economic uncertainty, this guaranteed money could be good news for Apple – and its investors – even if the demand for smartphones takes a dive.
In addition, Sprint has been known as an Android shop for a while now. This move could put a stake into Google, which is something that would make Steve Jobs proud.
Why It Won’t Happen
Exclusivity has a certain ring to it – if we were living in 2007, which we are not. When the Verizon iPhone debuted in February, it ended one of the world’s last iPhone exclusivity agreements. In doing so, it gave U.S. customers a choice for the very first time. Now, just eight months later, we can’t see Apple suddenly doing an about-face, even for $20 billion.
Plus, could Sprint’s network even handle the added demand that would come with the iPhone 5? Do you remember why so many people complained about AT&T’s network in the first place? Yep, it couldn’t initially handle the increased traffic that came with its iPhone exclusivity.
Finally, we just can’t see Apple sticking it to its loyal customers that have called AT&T and Verizon home for many, many years. Sure, many would automatically switch to Sprint just to get their hands on the iPhone 5. But, others may not. In fact, this switch could actually cause many AT&T and Verizon iPhone customers to use this time to switch themselves – to an Android-based device.
Don’t worry; we’ll know pretty soon whether or not the iPhone 5 is even revealed today and if it is, whether it goes to Sprint exclusively. As a reminder, Apple’s iPhone event begins at 1 p.m. EDT today. We’ll keep you updated.