By Nate Sukonik
Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the new version of the Apple
iPhone in mid-October. This would be filling a huge hole in the No. 3
U.S. carrier’s lineup. It would also mean giving Apple Inc. another
sales channel for its popular cellphone.
The timing, is not good for Apple. Studies indicate that Apple’s new
iPhone, which is expected to be called iPhone 5, will hit the market
later than expected and too late to contribute to sales in Apple’s
fiscal fourth quarter, which ends in September. Most observers had
expected the device to arrive in September.
It is certain that AT&T and Verizon will be competing directly with
Sprint with the introduction of the IPhone to Sprints growing
Smartphone lineup.
It also looks as if the IPhone deal might, renew AT&T’s merger
campaign with T-Mobile. This could hurt Sprint phone sales tremendously if the Merger would go through.
On the other hand, after Verizon transitioned its business away from
unlimited data and toward tiered options, some wondered if Sprint
would follow. However, Sprint hasn’t done it yet, which means
customers who buy the iPhone 5 on the Sprint’s network will get
unlimited data with the new device. That is worth the wait! It might
also be a reason for consumers to stick with Sprint.
In case you missed it:
Summer 2011 tech timeline
Microsoft merges with Skype
AT&T attempts merger with T-Mobile
Release of Android Honeycomb 3.1, Mac OSX lion and prerelease of ios5
Samsung and Apple sue it out over Tablet computers and patents
Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO, takes Advisor Board Chairman position. Tim Cook formerly Chief Operations Officer,
becomes CEO.
Facebook gets Skype integration
Google buys Motorola Mobility and Zagat Guides
Google expands it’s Social Network: Google Plus
Quirky.com introduces Internet group sourcing inventions and is due
for it’s own TV show
Companies to watch: Samsung, Facebook, Groupon, Living Social & Pandora.