With the success of the first generation of the iPhone and the imminent release of the version 2 3G iPhone, other cell phone makers, and providers are scrambling to create the copy that can defeat the original. Personally, the only one that I think even has a chance is the Instinct from Sprint.
I don’t really think that this phone is any more capable of defeating the original, but I think Sprint is properly motivated to try. Sprint has been suffering steep losses in the market, and has said that they will be spending 100 million dollars to promote and market this phone. That is three times the amount spent on any other phone marketing campaign in Sprint history.
Add to that, Sprint will be selling this phone for the low cost of $130, with a two year contract through Sprint. The $130 dollars includes a $100 rebate from Sprint, so your actual out of pocket expense is $230.
Aside from making this cheaper then the iPhone, Sprint will also be releasing this phone 21 days earlier then the iPhone. June 20th will mark the day you can get the instinct, whereas the iPhone buyers will have to wait until July 11.
Still, the question remains. Can the Instinct prove itself as the “iPhone Killer”? The answer is no, for three simple reasons.
1. Sprint is the #3 provider in the US, and they are known for having sketchy service in large portions of the US, so regardless of how good your phone is, if you can count on the service, there is no point. Sprint also has clear problems with their customer service, and in my own experience have seen many people suffer from straight out fraud from Sprint billing department.
2. Regardless of how much money Sprint spends on advertising this phone, they will not even come close to the marketing thrust, and media coverage, that Apple is getting.
3. In the end, people want the real thing. How many different mp3 players came after the iPod that were supposed to be better, cheaper and ultimately kill the iPod ? How many were successful ? None. The only market this will take from Apple are current Sprint customers who are still under contract, and want an iPhone experience without having to do early termination with Sprint. Anyone who has the ability to switch to at&t for the iPhone will be doing so.
Will there eventually be an “iPhone Killer”? Perhaps, and I think the only people that have the capability of killing the iPhone is at&t, since they are in fact the only negative to the iPhone.
Steve Job JUST announced the release of the 3G iPhone…
Too much going on for a full post.. but OMG!
here are a couple of official pics…
Japan’s fastest growing mobile operator, [ SoftBank Mobile Corp. ], announced today that it has signed an agreement with Apple to offer the iPhone to its customers later this year.
Given that the carrier operates only 2G and 3G networks, the announcement further supports expectations that Apple is on the verge of introducing the 3G iPhone.
SoftBank Mobile Corp, Japan’s No. 3 wireless operator, recently beat all of its peers in annual net mobile subscriber growth for fiscal 2007, adding 2,676,500 subscribers thanks to its White Plan featuring lower fees.
As of April, SoftBank maintained a combined subscriber base of 18,779,100, which included 14,453,100 customers on its 3G network and 4,326,000 on its 2G network.
Today at&t announced a 20 percent increase to the typical download speeds across its 3G wireless network and a 50 percent increase to typical upload speeds.
The mobile operator and exclusive provider for Apple’s iPhone in the US said the upgrades are results of recent network enhancements, including the deployment of High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) technology across all existing 3G markets that is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
Customers on the network should now achieved download speeds between 700 Kbps (kilobits per second) and 1.7 Mbps (megabits per second), up from 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps. Meanwhile, upload speeds should jump to the 500 Kbps - 1.2 Mbps range, up from 500 to 800 Kbps.
The announcement comes just days before Apple is expected to take the wraps off its version 2 iPhone which will use this 3G network.
at&t says its 3G mobile network is available in more than 275 major U.S. metropolitan areas, adding that later this month it will become the first U.S. carrier to have fully deployed High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology across its entire 3G network.
By year-end, the company plans to offer 3G service in nearly 350 major metropolitan U.S. areas.
After months and months of rumor, speculation, and rampant guessing, we finally have a launch date for the 3g iPhone.
Gizmodo, and others, are reporting that a June 9th launch date has been confirmed. The new device will be announced at the keynote address at WWDC 2008 in San Francisco. It will also be made available worldwide immediately following the launch, rather then at the end of the year, as was previously assumed.
There is speculation now, that the 3G iPhone will no longer have a fixed price point, at least in some countries, and that there will be new policies surrounding the sale of the iPhone. Some countries will get variable pricing on new iPhones based on enticements to switch carriers. There’s no word on which countries will be subject to this pricing structure.
Just one day after [ instituting a policy ] of one [ iPhone ] sale per customer, [ AT&T ] said Thursday that it has discontinued the policy both on its Web site and in its retail stores.
Customers will now be able to buy three iPhones per person, a limit that the carrier enacted when the device first went on sale almost a year ago. Apparently AT&T has decided that they do in fact have enough inventory to leave the three phone per person limit in place.
“Our No. 1 concern is to make sure that every customer who wants an iPhone gets one,” an AT&T spokesman said. “We thought yesterday that the fairest way to do that was to limit customers to one iPhone. Then we realized that we have sufficient inventory to go back to our original policy.”
Apple iPhone’s have been running out all over in the US and UK, and apple.com is not selling them online at all anymore, stating that they are out of stock.
All of this smacks of the upcoming 3G release, and while all of this makes me hate AT&T even more then normal, I am happy to see the trail leading directly to 3G iPhones.
There is no current information on when AT&T will change it’s mind again, but we are sure it won’t take long.