220 replies to this topic

[BenChase7]

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

Wouldn't the 3rd party retailer (i.e. BestBbuy) have to do the price matching, since Sprint is selling it for $150 cheaper?

[echo4papa]

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.

Same thing happened with my brother's EVO. It has me considering Best Buy's Black Tie program.

[oversight]

I'm really tempted to go for the pre-order, but curiosity regarding the Sprint SGS3 and the unknown of when LTE will actually be available in Seattle (I know it's a second rounder) have me second guessing. Where I live and work I have a full strength WiMax signal and I'm not crazy about going back to 3G only for an unknown period of time.

Decisions, decisions...

[tt0h]

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

Why would they? I tend to believe that Sprint is willing to allow these mass retailers the ability to sell these products at certain price points because Sprint knows that their buyers are locked in to payment agreement for 24 months. The retailers paid the up-front cost to advertise the deals - and thus the Sprint product. Sprint now has these subscribers,old or new, on their books and locked into these agreements. This gives Sprint a guaranteed incomes stream with a minimal outlay of cash. If the buyer changes their provider then the buyer has to pay off the portion of the contract that was yielded to the mass retailer - so there is no real loss to Sprint. This system works less so with iPhones, but for other phone providers it should work well.

Sprint is also betting on their ability to retain the majority of these contracts via improved service, etc. It'll be a waiting game to see if their bet pays off.

[MacinJosh]

Wouldn't the 3rd party retailer (i.e. BestBbuy) have to do the price matching, since Sprint is selling it for $150 cheaper?

Why would they? I tend to believe that Sprint is willing to allow these mass retailers the ability to sell these products at certain price points because Sprint knows that their buyers are locked in to payment agreement for 24 months. The retailers paid the up-front cost to advertise the deals - and thus the Sprint product. Sprint now has these subscribers,old or new, on their books and locked into these agreements. This gives Sprint a guaranteed incomes stream with a minimal outlay of cash. If the buyer changes their provider then the buyer has to pay off the portion of the contract that was yielded to the mass retailer - so there is no real loss to Sprint. This system works less so with iPhones, but for other phone providers it should work well.

Sprint is also betting on their ability to retain the majority of these contracts via improved service, etc. It'll be a waiting game to see if their bet pays off.

How about when the 3rd party retailer is selling at an 80% discount over Sprint? Would Sprint then consider price matching? I want to take my new LTE device and test in LA on the 26th and maybe even have it for this Saturday if I go down there.

[tt0h]

How about when the 3rd party retailer is selling at an 80% discount over Sprint? Would Sprint then consider price matching? I want to take my new LTE device and test in LA on the 26th and maybe even have it for this Saturday if I go down there.

My guess is they pay a certain price to Sprint, per unit, so Sprint could likely care less how much they actually sell it for. BB is hoping to make money on their "added services" and/or some kind of kick back program if people reside on the plan through it's entireity, etc.

On a side note, I'm still trying to force myself to pull the trigger and order the E4GLTE. I want it, but I keep getting side tracked seeing what else may be coming out...

[centermedic]

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.

I have been wondering to myself if the new EVO will be the last top of the line phone for $199. I was easily expecting the EVO to go for $250(like the Epic 4G). It will be interesting to see how much Sprint charges for the Galaxy3,iPhone5 and the next variant of the Photon.

[MacinJosh]

I have been wondering to myself if the new EVO will be the last top of the line phone for $199. I was easily expecting the EVO to go for $250(like the Epic 4G). It will be interesting to see how much Sprint charges for the Galaxy3,iPhone5 and the next variant of the Photon.

Apple determines the price for the iPhone by carrier according to all the contract info between Apple and the Carriers. But I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone does increase in price with the inclusion of LTE.

[themuffinman]

How about when the 3rd party retailer is selling at an 80% discount over Sprint? Would Sprint then consider price matching? I want to take my new LTE device and test in LA on the 26th and maybe even have it for this Saturday if I go down there.

Sprint has no reason so price match since its basically a win win situation for them. Also keep in mind that even though places like wirefly sell their phones cheap, they also tack on etf's in addition to sprints own etf. So even though you get a better deal through retailers like wirefly, in the event you have to cancel your service it will probably cost you twice as much to do so.

[themuffinman]

Apple determines the price for the iPhone by carrier according to all the contract info between Apple and the Carriers. But I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone does increase in price with the inclusion of LTE.

Yes Apple does determine the price of the iphone when carriers buy inventory from them but I don't think apple determines how much the carriers can subsidize when selling it to customers. So, for example, if the iphone 5 is priced at $299 on a two year contract it wont be because of what apple wants, it will be because the carriers don't want to subsidize it as much.

[themuffinman]

I have been wondering to myself if the new EVO will be the last top of the line phone for $199. I was easily expecting the EVO to go for $250(like the Epic 4G). It will be interesting to see how much Sprint charges for the Galaxy3,iPhone5 and the next variant of the Photon.

Damn multiquote isn't working for me at the moment so sorry for all the back to back posts.

Anyway I can all but guarantee that the galaxy s3 and photon variant will go for $199 on a two year contract, my only uncertainty would be for the iphone 5 which can easily sell out at any price point. Also keep in mind that verizon was easily getting way with it because no one else had an lte network that was worth bragging about so they could have easily sell all their lte phones at $299. Since at&t is expanding their lte network and sprint is coming out swinging with their lte network, you not gonna see lte phones going for $299 anymore because carriers will be forced to now be competitive. Come to think of it, with an lte iphone I wouldn't be surprised if it does come out for $199 on contract and I also won't be surprised if carriers adjust their data prices so they can milk even more money out of their customers.

[irev210]

Damn multiquote isn't working for me at the moment so sorry for all the back to back posts.

Anyway I can all but guarantee that the galaxy s3 and photon variant will go for $199 on a two year contract, my only uncertainty would be for the iphone 5 which can easily sell out at any price point.

I disagree. Apple has been standing steadfast at the 199 pricepoint

Yes Apple does determine the price of the iphone when carriers buy inventory from them but I don't think apple determines how much the carriers can subsidize when selling it to customers. So, for example, if the iphone 5 is priced at $299 on a two year contract it wont be because of what apple wants, it will be because the carriers don't want to subsidize it as much.

I disagree. As far as I know the MSRP of 199, 299, 399 is contracted what the carriers will sell the iPhone at.

3rd party sellers, such as wal-mart seem to have leeway. Carriers, don't seem to.

[themuffinman]

I disagree. Apple has been standing steadfast at the 199 pricepoint



I disagree. As far as I know the MSRP of 199, 299, 399 is contracted what the carriers will sell the iPhone at.

3rd party sellers, such as wal-mart seem to have leeway. Carriers, don't seem to.

Keep in mind that the msrp is not the same as the 2 year contract price when you buy it. MSRP is when you pay full retail for the phone WITHOUT signing a two year contract. For example the evo 4g lte msrp is $549.99 but priced at $199 on a two year contract. Also keep in mind that there are many carriers in other countries(China Telecom for example) where you can get ipohnes 4s's free on contract right now. So again the prices you are giving are subsidized prices and does not reflect the actual MSRP. I don't see how apple can tell carriers how much to charge on contract. Apple already got their money from the carriers when the carriers bought iphone inventory from them. How can apple then turn around and say how much to sell them for on or off contract? That makes absolutely no sense at all, at this point apple shouldn't even care what the carriers sell it for just as long as they sell it. Whether its sprint verizon or at&t I am sure they all spend upwards of close to $600 per iphone and to move units and attract customers they sell it to them at a lower price point then make the money back over the next 2 years on the contract that they will sign, which is also the purpose of etf if they cancel early.

[meatman1964]

I just had my upgrade eligeblity reset this morning. After a botched attempt to do my pre-order online and having sprints website screw up my upgrade after canceling the first order. I decided to do my pre-order over the phone. My total for my upgrade done over the phone with sales came to $175. It was $25 cheaper to go thru tele sales than ordering it online. They gave me a delivery date of the 17th over the phone.
If you haven't preorder online do it by calling sprint, I saved $25, but it took me ten minutes on the phone well worth the time I think.

[MacinJosh]

As far as I know the MSRP of 199, 299, 399 is contracted what the carriers will sell the iPhone at.

You are right. Apple set their contract up with at&t from the very beginning to determine their own price scheme for the iPhone. They then allowed carrier subsidies with the release of the 3G, but they still determined the price. With the smaller carriers that are selling the iPhone $50 cheaper than at&t/VZW/Sprint, Apple may have been more lenient with to let them sell it at a lower price point, maybe to keep competition healthy.

And even if there were no phone subsidies, the original iPhone sold like crazy at full price, so even a slightly higher priced iPhone with LTE under the hood would probably sell out in Pre-order stage too.

[meatman1964]

I just had my upgrade eligeblity reset this morning. After a botched attempt to do my pre-order online and having sprints website screw up my upgrade after canceling the first order. I decided to do my pre-order over the phone. My total for my upgrade done over the phone with sales came to $175. It was $25 cheaper to go thru tele sales than ordering it online. They gave me a delivery date of the 17th over the phone.
If you haven't preorder online do it by calling sprint, I saved $25, but it took me ten minutes on the phone well worth the time I think.

Ok after receiving my confirmation email It turns out the sales rep put a order in for a lg viper instead of a Evo.
She had me confirm the model at least 3 times, and said evo 4g lte pre-order every time.
Currently have sprint order support on hold right now been trying to get a resolution for the incompetance of the sales rep.
This is been the worst customer service issue I have ever had.
I have to give the rep I have on hold alot of credit, he hasn't hung up on me and I haven't been real quiet about the problem.I did apologize for all the yelling I know its not his fault. They are trying to put my preorder thru without any additional cost to me right now.

[Odell]

Props to the guy for not hanging up. I'll never understand the rationale of yelling at the person you need to help resolve your issue.

Anyway, I decided not to risk going the Wirefly route. As I progressed through the ordering process I just kept getting the feeling that something was going to get screwy with my Sprint account. We get a discount through my wife's employer and my line is not the primary line. I've learned to trust my instincts in these cases so I'll just be patient and pick up my phone when BB calls to tell me it's ready.

[unccjester]

If you can get an EVO for Viper price, that'll be WELL worth the hassle. You'll be the only person to beat out my retentions deal so far.. I had to go through 3 different departments and 3 different phone calls on 5/7 to get everything I needed done.

[Mofus]

I had a $200.50 credit on my Sprint account until just a little bit ago. They charged me for my phone, so maybe they'll ship it soon.

Here's what it's listed as: HTC X325C BAR PHONE $200.50

Anybody else get charged yet?

[meatman1964]

I had a $200.50 credit on my Sprint account until just a little bit ago. They charged me for my phone, so maybe they'll ship it soon.

Here's what it's listed as: HTC X325C BAR PHONE $200.50

Anybody else get charged yet?

It all depends when your bill is generated. My bill will be generated for my account on the 18th according to sprint, same day as every other month.
They said thats when the charge for my phone will show up. You have a credit showing on your account when you place your order and your card is charged, but the actual charge will show on your next bill