Sprint’s Chief Financial Officer Robert Brust recently told investors that the company had seen the worst of its problems and things are looking up, reports “Information Week” (http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/05/sprint_says_pre.html). What’s especially interesting is that he also lamented the (lack of) impact of the Palm Pre and said Sprint would love to be an iPhone carrier.
“The Pre didn’t work out as well as we hoped,” he said. Brust said Palm’s supply issues were part of the problem, and that, concerning the iPhone, “we’d love to have it.”
Brust did note that this was unlikely at this point in time, notes “Information Week.”
Which is too bad. In December Thomas Weisel analyst Doug Reid added Sprint to his list of potential iPhone carriers in the US. In a note to investors (as reported by AppleInsider.com) analyst Shaw Wu with Kaufman Bros. said although many believe the iPhone will come to Verizon in 2010, he was dubious. Why? Both Verizon and Apple have found success by focusing on “customer control” and this will keep them apart.
Because Apple and Verizon have conflicting interests, Wu said he believes that a deal between the two companies would take longer than many currently expect. That would make a potential 2010 deal unlikely.
Instead, Wu said that Apple could strike deals with both Sprint, which has 48 million wireless subscribers, and T-Mobile, which has 33 million customers. Both companies are more likely to be agreeable with Apple’s practices in order to offer the iPhone, per the analyst.