220 replies to this topic

[S4GRU]

Just got this update to my EVO LTE order:

Thanks for pre-ordering. You are one step closer to getting your phone. Keep an eye out for a shipping email with your tracking information. We will do our best to get it to you before others get a glimpse on Friday, May 18. For questions, visit sprint.com/preorder.

[htown713]

I pre-ordered mine from Best Buy as well. You just can't beat $100 in gift cards! Also, I have a feeling that they are going to lite up some LTE goodness on 5/18 (at least stop blocking the new phones from finding the LTE sites). They pushed up the release date an entire month on the new Evo and they are releasing the lte hotspot on the same day so it makes sense that they might offically launch LTE. I hope that sprint proves me right since I live in Houston!

[S4GRU]

I pre-ordered mine from Best Buy as well. You just can't beat $100 in gift cards! Also, I have a feeling that they are going to lite up some LTE goodness on 5/18. They pushed up the release date an entire month on the new Evo and they are releasing the lte hotspot on the same day. I hope that sprint proves me right since I live in Houston!

If HTC was able to do the update on the devices before shipping them out, then it's possible that LTE sites that are "On-Air" may stop being blocked on the 18th. Otherwise, I think the LTE block will likely remain until the EVO LTE OTA comes out. It will be interesting to see this all unfold.

Robert

[HarryChimp71]

Since I don't have an upgrade til April 2013, I'll be lurking on Craigslist for any unhappy Sprint customers wanting to sell their EVO LTE phones.

[Odell]

The Evo LTE can now be pre-ordered from Wirefly for $119!!! I canceled my Sprint preorder and ordered this morning. If you want to do the same, ask for the escalation department when you call Sprint. I had to go thru 5 people to finally cancel. Credit takes 7-10 business days.

http://www.wirefly.c....f2ee5cbbfc6cb8

This is very intriguing. Since I only reserved with Best Buy I don't have to worry about canceling. With the $10 Google Wallet credit this is about $40 better than the BB offer with the $50 Gift card.

[Pillowsplat]

Giving the phones away? 1st we really don't know what it costs to produce one of these phones. 2nd have you looked at your phone bill lately?
With all the back door bill backs and network funding that may be going on I would think Sprint is leveraged to the max and someone is investment spending in a big way.
I wonder how many Sprint 4G LTE sites will be on line May 18th. And how long 4g lte phone owners will give Sprint to light up.
And on a different note why is Sprint allowing leaks to this Web Site or any other. It seems like gorilla marketing. Effective way of creating a buzz I guess.
I certainly don't want to come across disrespectful to the moderators their hard work or their incredible networking knowledge. Cause I think their intentions are great. But I don't trust the Sprint machine. You don't get paid 11 million in bonuses minus the iphone rebate unless you are one "creative" manager. I'm hoping Sprint can pull this off but they must be walking a very fine line.

[echo4papa]

This is very intriguing. Since I only reserved with Best Buy I don't have to worry about canceling. With the $10 Google Wallet credit this is about $40 better than the BB offer with the $50 Gift card.

I wonder if that Google Wallet credit is going to be universal. Too bad it isn't the full $50 credit they offered to the GNex purchases.

Edited by echo4papa, 09 May 2012 - 12:47 PM.

[Odell]

Giving the phones away? 1st we really don't know what it costs to produce one of these phones. 2nd have you looked at your phone bill lately?
With all the back door bill backs and network funding that may be going on I would think Sprint is leveraged to the max and someone is investment spending in a big way.
I wonder how many Sprint 4G LTE sites will be on line May 18th. And how long 4g lte phone owners will give Sprint to light up.
And on a different note why is Sprint allowing leaks to this Web Site or any other. It seems like gorilla marketing. Effective way of creating a buzz I guess.
I certainly don't want to come across disrespectful to the moderators their hard work or their incredible networking knowledge. Cause I think their intentions are great. But I don't trust the Sprint machine. You don't get paid 11 million in bonuses minus the iphone rebate unless you are one "creative" manager. I'm hoping Sprint can pull this off but they must be walking a very fine line.

From everything I've read, US carriers are heavily subsidizing these phones. We've gotten a little spoiled with the $199 price point. People in other countries are paying hundreds more than we do here. Of course they are not on 2 year contracts with locked phones either.

[Pillowsplat]

As I said I really do not know the price. The subsidies, contracts, and marketing really make it hard to pinpoint a price.
My apologies if I wandered a bit off topic. I was responding to Robert's post.

[Odell]

Since I don't have an upgrade til April 2013, I'll be lurking on Craigslist for any unhappy Sprint customers wanting to sell their EVO LTE phones.

Who knows, you might see me selling mine if it turns out that I like the Samsung G3 better.

[irev210]

We don't need no Catastrophes with Sprint right now. And they sure made a good move to release the device one month sooner than originally planned. The original EVO purchasers were eligible for upgrades last month or sooner.

Very good point. They really want to keep voluntary churn down as low as possible.

Right now, they really need to keep churn down as low as possible. They had some issues with involuntary churn (people who can't pay their bills) as a result of lowering their credit standards (with radio shack) in the middle of last year.

I don't think the new EVO will be the halo device the original EVO was (completely different competitive landscape nowadays) but it still should be a fantastic handset for Sprint.

EVO, GS3, new Apollo Windows Phone, next new iPhone... one thing sprint does not lack nowadays is an extremely competitive handset line-up.

[S4GRU]

Giving the phones away? 1st we really don't know what it costs to produce one of these phones. 2nd have you looked at your phone bill lately?
With all the back door bill backs and network funding that may be going on I would think Sprint is leveraged to the max and someone is investment spending in a big way.
I wonder how many Sprint 4G LTE sites will be on line May 18th. And how long 4g lte phone owners will give Sprint to light up.
And on a different note why is Sprint allowing leaks to this Web Site or any other. It seems like gorilla marketing. Effective way of creating a buzz I guess.
I certainly don't want to come across disrespectful to the moderators their hard work or their incredible networking knowledge. Cause I think their intentions are great. But I don't trust the Sprint machine. You don't get paid 11 million in bonuses minus the iphone rebate unless you are one "creative" manager. I'm hoping Sprint can pull this off but they must be walking a very fine line.

Yes...relative to what other top end flagship devices of this caliber have sold for from competitors (Verizon especially), it seems like the price point on these is designed to move. Giving them away is just hyperbole, don't over read into it.

Especially when you take into consideration the discounts that are coming out from 3rd party sellers at Pre-Order, well, it's quite stunning, actually. I don't know what Sprint pays for the device. But what I do know is it seems Sprint is using the EVO as a hail mary to keep OG EVO customers. And they need them to stay to make their cash flow projections. So, it all makes sense. I just am surprised the discounts are starting out the gate. Heck, even before the gate opens.

As for the number of LTE sites and when they are coming online, that pretty much is a known commodity around here. We talk about it all the time. However, Sprint is not selling their LTE network to any one really. They don't push LTE marketing much at all. They are mostly just marketing the devices at this time. Sprint is just trying to master under promise, over deliver.

If customers are assuming they are going to have ubiquitous LTE coverage as soon as they get their device, then that is counter to what Sprint has said publicly over and over again. And given the blunders of WiMax deployment, I think that most customers are cautious and pessimistic about LTE deployment, and not given to grand visions of wall to wall LTE coverage when they activate their new EVO's. Or even soon. Unless, perhaps, if they live in a market with active NV deployment. And then they won't be disappointed for long.

If Sprint is leaking info to us covertly, which I doubt, but if they are, it is rather genius. To give information through a third party to help coimmunicate to customers what is going on and help build excitement, but still giving themselves breathing room in case there are delays...well, it's a very smart idea. However, I'm not sure I would ever give Sprint quite that much credit to pull it off.

Robert

[irev210]

If HTC was able to do the update on the devices before shipping them out, then it's possible that LTE sites that are "On-Air" may stop being blocked on the 18th. Otherwise, I think the LTE block will likely remain until the EVO LTE OTA comes out. It will be interesting to see this all unfold.

Robert

That makes sense. In another post you mentioned may 18th as a day for some 4G cores to come online...

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/844-athens-ga-lte/page__view__findpost__p__14995

The 18th seems too much not to be a coincidence. Is the 18th "launch LTE" day?

[irev210]

Who knows, you might see me selling mine if it turns out that I like the Samsung G3 better.

You mean, if you find out you really want a removable battery

That's going to be the biggest difference between the two handsets

[Odell]

You mean, if you find out you really want a removable battery

That's going to be the biggest difference between the two handsets

That and Touch Wiz vs Sense. Oh and that sweet Pebble Blue color.

The removable battery is the only thing that's allowing me to keep using my original EVO since my USB port has been fracked for months.

[S4GRU]

That makes sense. In another post you mentioned may 18th as a day for some 4G cores to come online...

http://s4gru.com/ind...dpost__p__14995

The 18th seems too much not to be a coincidence. Is the 18th "launch LTE" day?

It may be. However, that conclusion would just be anecdotal from context. But a good deduction. But I have not seen anything specifically identifying a date that LTE would stop being blocked by Sprint from discoverability by LTE devices.

However, in some markets, like Boston, it can't go live before the cores are online. And currently, Boston is scheduled for the core to come live on May 18th. Could be a coincidence. We should know soon enough.

Robert

[tt0h]

I've had an upgrade available since Feb, and my contract expires in 2 weeks. I've been putting off getting a new phone until I've seen what is available and where Sprint is going with it.

I bought the original EVO 4G on release day - and I still use it. I still use it without 4G coverage at home. And I'm not bitching. It's done most of everything I've needed from a phone, or a tablet for that matter. I read ebooks on it at night and do the occasional customer "fix" on the phone when I'm too lazy to run to my main computer and handle it.

I live in somewhat of a backwater area. Sprint put WiMAX up all around me - but only in the business areas - not the residential. I've, honestly, not really missed having WiMAX at home. I, like a lot of folks out there, have my own wireless network which my EVO connects to. Actually, I get 50 megabits down on my home connection - so defo not missing 4G connectivity there since I'm using WiFi on my phone. So, my main concern is that I have a good data connection when not at home. Given the upgrade layout I feel that Sprint will definitely provide the connectivity I need when I'm not at home. From what I see, Sprint will be covering our main metro areas as well as the "en route" areas - interstates, etc.

Now I just need to decide which device I want to use. I'm heavily leaning towards the EVO LTE. I'm one of the few folks that take issue to the display on the GS3 - and, sitting and watching to see where the best deal can be had for EVO LTE. Likely, come tomorrow morning, I'll be going to Best Buy and ordering a new EVO LTE.

[4ginnc]

It may be. However, that conclusion would just be anecdotal from context. But a good deduction. But I have not seen anything specifically identifying a date that LTE would stop being blocked by Sprint from discoverability by LTE devices.

However, in some markets, like Boston, it can't go live before the cores are online. And currently, Boston is scheduled for the core to come live on May 18th. Could be a coincidence. We should know soon enough.

Robert

And don't forget the May 18th launch date of the Sierra Wireless Tri-Network Hotspot from the screenshot in this article:

http://s4gru.com/ind...bs-for-testing/

May 18th will be a busy day for Sprint. All just coincidence? Inquiring minds want to know!
The suspense is killing me.

[lordsutch]

My guess would be that Sprint is lightly subsidizing the $549.99 off-contract price (although they probably make a net profit after the $36 activation charge) but that the $699.99 off-contract price at Best Buy includes a hefty margin, in part to make their on-contract price look better. As for the 3rd party carriers undercutting the two-year price from Sprint, my understanding is that they get a cut of your monthly bill through the contract period in addition to an up-front "prebate" from Sprint for new activations; if BB or Wirefly is going to get several hundred bucks from you indirectly over 24 months, they'll gladly throw $50-100 at you to buy from them as opposed to going to Sprint directly.

[MacinJosh]

My guess would be that Sprint is lightly subsidizing the $549.99 off-contract price (although they probably make a net profit after the $36 activation charge) but that the $699.99 off-contract price at Best Buy includes a hefty margin, in part to make their on-contract price look better. As for the 3rd party carriers undercutting the two-year price from Sprint, my understanding is that they get a cut of your monthly bill through the contract period in addition to an up-front "prebate" from Sprint for new activations; if BB or Wirefly is going to get several hundred bucks from you indirectly over 24 months, they'll gladly throw $50-100 at you to buy from them as opposed to going to Sprint directly.

So would Sprint be willing to price match so that the other company doesn't get that extra money?