Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

[sbolen]

I stopped by my local Sprint corporate store this morning to see if they had any iPhone 6 inventory/pre-order stock for Friday. Was told they did, so I put in my preorder and will have one waiting on Friday at 8am.

 

That's besides the point.

 

The store was packed at 9:30am! The people in front of me switched 3 lines from AT&T to the 20GB Family Share, and apparently, this had been happening a lot since the commercials started airing in the St. Louis area. The guy that helped me said that he joined the company at the right time - 3 months ago.

 

Anyway, encouraging signs on the retail front. I think Sprint will surprise a lot of people when they release quarterly numbers....

[bigmachine]

Some confirmation from Sprint on Band 41 strategy:

 

http://www.equities.com/editors-desk/stocks/telecommunication/jeff-kagan-confusion-on-sprint-25-direction

[cletus]

Some confirmation from Sprint on Band 41 strategy:

 

http://www.equities.com/editors-desk/stocks/telecommunication/jeff-kagan-confusion-on-sprint-25-direction

Thanks for this as it does confirm what most of our impressions were regarding the refocusing of 2.5GHz plans. However, this was a terribly written article and it felt more like I was reading a 5th grader's book report than an article about Sprint's rollout plans.

 

"However at Communacopia some analysts and media seemed to misunderstand the Sprint. So I spoke with Sprint to get a clarification. Dan Wright from Sprint Corporate Communications said nothing had changed about their plan so there should be no confusion. That was good to hear."

"This is an important lesson for every company to learn. Make sure every word that you say is clear and helpful. Any confusion will create a confusing mix of stories that will keep the marketplace confused. And the marketplace does not like confusion. They like to understand clearly every step of the journey."

Eugh.. 

 

Edit: What a coward. The author deleted my comments on the article.

[EvanA]

just got my bill, I DID NOT get charged the $100 twice,  showing $200 due for 6 lines.  Plus my account it still showing 40 gigs available lol 

I can confirm this. I'm on the 20gig promotional with 4 lines and a tablet and 40GB of data are available according to web and *4.

[NateC]

Serious question: How has Sprint justified the 20% pricing discrepancy between iPhone and non-iPhone individual unlimited plans ($50 vs. $60, respectively)?

[GoBigRed79]

Serious question: How has Sprint justified the 20% pricing discrepancy between iPhone and non-iPhone individual unlimited plans ($50 vs. $60, respectively)?

 

My guess is they justify it based on the fact that iPhone as a single product line attracts the most possible switchers and the plan is another enticement to poach subs from other carriers that are getting new iPhones.

[Johnner1999]

My guess is they justify it based on the fact that iPhone as a single product line attracts the most possible switchers and the plan is another enticement to poach subs from other carriers that are getting new iPhones.

And iPhone users typically stick with s device longer, with less regret at 6, 12, and 18months.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Deval]

Serious question: How has Sprint justified the 20% pricing discrepancy between iPhone and non-iPhone individual unlimited plans ($50 vs. $60, respectively)?

 

Simply offering a deal to attract customers for life? 

[Rocket87]

That $50 plan is a limited time.

[NateC]

Simply offering a deal to attract customers for life? 

 

But it's not so simple.  From my perspective it's penalizing Android users, punishing 50% of Sprint customers with a 20% "Android tax", even though the device should be completely decoupled from the service in a fair world.

[newboyx]

IPhone devices are more likely to retain their value after 24 months. Very few if any Android devices can compete on resale value. Look at the Galaxy S3 vs the iPhone 5 on the resale market. Sprint can make back some of that iPhone discount on the resale market.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[GoBigRed79]

That $50 plan is a limited time.

 

Rocket, any idea on when they will stop offering it.  I am in a full framily right now but debating jumping on this for piece of mind.

[utiz4321]

But it's not so simple. From my perspective it's penalizing Android users, punishing 50% of Sprint customers with a 20% "Android tax", even though the device should be completely decoupled from the service in a fair world.

I don't get this logic. The price of the plan is 60. They are offering you 10 dollars Off if you buy an iPhone. They aren't punishing anyone. They are simply have different offers for different phones. I think making plans phone dependant isn't the best way to go, but they are not punishing you. The phone you want simply has a different rate plan.

[Jones]

I dont think its a penalty against Android. The iphone 6 is a big ticket item that Sprint can make money off of by attracting new customers and reselling the devices later (for a premium).

[newboyx]

Rocket, any idea on when they will stop offering it. I am in a full framily right now but debating jumping on this for piece of mind.

Via Sprint's website

" Sprint Simply Unlimited Plan: Offer ends 10/16/2014. Available only for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus"

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[NateC]

I don't get this logic. The price of the plan is 60. They are offering you 10 dollars Off if you buy an iPhone. They aren't punishing anyone. They are simply have different offers for different phones. I think making plans phone dependant isn't the best way to go, but they are not punishing you. The phone you want simply has a different rate plan.

 

"Discount for one" vs. "Penalty for the other" is a matter of perspective.  As an Android user who sees no reasonable explanation for the discrepancy, it's a penalty.

[NateC]

IPhone devices are more likely to retain their value after 24 months. Very few if any Android devices can compete on resale value. Look at the Galaxy S3 vs the iPhone 5 on the resale market. Sprint can make back some of that iPhone discount on the resale market.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

.. I would accept this as reasonable if it weren't for the fact that the $50 price applies to non-subsidized, non-leased rates.  For someone using EasyPay and keeping the device at the end, they pay the same retail price of $650 and still maintained the $50/month rate.

[utiz4321]

"Discount for one" vs. "Penalty for the other" is a matter of perspective. As an Android user who sees no reasonable explanation for the discrepancy, it's a penalty.

Not really. If I offer you 1000 off buying car A and nothing off car B I am simply offering you a deal of car A. You can elect not to go with car A but hey that is called being a consumer and making choices. I don't understand consumers making themselves into victims, it's called a market and you have choices. This is just one more choice.

[NateC]

Here's a silly analogy to illustrate my point:  Let's say Wal-Mart started a new promotion along the lines of "For a limited time, Republicans get 20% off their purchases."

 

Would you guys still be making the following arguments?

 

• It's perfectly fine.  It's not a fee for Democrats, it's a discount for Republicans.  Look at the phrasing!  It's not punishing Democrats, it's simply different prices for different political parties.
• This is justified because it will bring in more Republican customers to Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart can make a lot of money with this!
• This is fine because it's a limited time only.
• Republicans are more loyal to their retail stores, so this makes sense

We're not talking about a military veteran or student discount here.  It's iPhone vs. Android.

[NateC]

Not really. If I offer you 1000 buying car A and nothing off car B I am simply offering you a deal of car A. You can elect not to go with car A but hey that is called being a consumer and making choices. I don't understand consumers making themselves into victims, it's called a market and you have choices. This is just one more choice.

 

You're absolutely right that it's a market and we have choices.  My question is really aimed at seeing how Sprint can justify (both to themselves and customers) how this is acceptable.  I'm not saying they're doing anything illegal here; and they are completely within their right to charge whatever they want.   They don't *have* to justify anything technically.

 

But that doesn't make it a good idea.

[transitwatch889]

Billions of dollars to recoup investment in device commitment. http://www.cnet.com/news/sprint-commits-to-20b-order-for-30m-iphones-wsj-says/

[cletus]

Billions of dollars to recoup investment in device commitment. http://www.cnet.com/news/sprint-commits-to-20b-order-for-30m-iphones-wsj-says/

Good to see that BGR has remained consistent in their rumor-mongering inaccuracy as far back as 2011. 

 

 

FWIW, iPhone users are widely known to have the highest carrier bills in the industry so I don't know how hard it would be to make that investment back. It DOES seem slightly telling that historically Sprint iPhones have the lowest resale value of all the carriers. (great if you are a Sprint customer buying one though!)

[jamisonshaw125]

You're absolutely right that it's a market and we have choices.  My question is really aimed at seeing how Sprint can justify (both to themselves and customers) how this is acceptable.  I'm not saying they're doing anything illegal here; and they are completely within their right to charge whatever they want.   They don't *have* to justify anything technically.

 

But that doesn't make it a good idea.

I think we are all forgetting something...Sprint is here to make money. If that means cutting the price down by $10 and launching a new lease program giving a better deal to iPhone customers, then so be it. Why does verizon allow trading in ONLY an old iPhone, to get the new iPhone for free.

 

Priority. iPhone is a hugeeeeee seller. It would be foolish for each major provider not to take advantage of it.

[NateC]

I think we are all forgetting something...Sprint is here to make money. If that means cutting the price down by $10 and launching a new lease program giving a better deal to iPhone customers, then so be it. Why does verizon allow trading in ONLY an old iPhone, to get the new iPhone for free.

 

Priority. iPhone is a hugeeeeee seller. It would be foolish for each major provider not to take advantage of it.

 

Discounting the device itself is fine and happens all the time to push particular products for various reasons.  But they're not doing that.  They're discounting the cellular service which has nothing to do with the device.

[cletus]

Discounting the device itself is fine and happens all the time to push particular products for various reasons.  But they're not doing that.  They're discounting the cellular service which has nothing to do with the device.

They are discounting the service while taking into account that iPhone users switch carriers less often than Android users. They are also making significant disincentives for these new iPhone users to leave if they choose the iPhone for life program. So, if they discount it to a level where they still make money monthly off these users while also having less churn for these new users going forward it makes great financial sense to me.