Dumb for Apple to release the iPhone 5 on just AT&T and Verizon?

[boomhower]

Sprint tops Verizon in customer service call satisfaction in recent survey
http://androinica.com/2011/01/25/sp...r-service-call-satisfaction-in-recent-survey/

Not my satisfaction. Every interaction I have had with them recently has been horrible. I'm selling my EVO, paying the ETF, and going to Verizon.

 

[her209]

Not my satisfaction. Every interaction I have had with them recently has been horrible. I'm selling my EVO, paying the ETF, and going to Verizon.

Check your PM inbox.

 

[QueBert]

Not my satisfaction. Every interaction I have had with them recently has been horrible. I'm selling my EVO, paying the ETF, and going to Verizon.

I hope you're not going to Verizon blindly, I've had both and had my fair share of dealing with both of their CS on plenty of occasions. Here is all I'll say

With Sprint, I was usually in a long ass wait cue, with Verizon I almost always got somebody real quick. As for quality level of the who I was dealing with? Verizon sucked BALLS, and they seemed to fuck up my bill 3 times a year for the 3 1/2 years I was with them.

To me it sounds like your going to spend a ton of money just to get more of the same.

 

[kaerflog]

but I just think it wouldn't be economically feasible for them to do it. The cost for making separate radios for Sprint and then T-Mobile in addition to Verizon and AT&T here in the states wouldn't make sense to them, especially since they are such a small piece of the pie. They have AT&T which uses the same frequencies as majority of the world and now Verizon. Apple always likes to make a huge margin on their products and adding Verizon now is more than enough for Apple seeing as with just AT&T they have a huge slice of the pie already and will add even more with Verizon. I am prepared to eat my own words though if it ever does happen but I don't think it will.

This is not true.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands
Most of the world uses 2100mhz for their 3G.
Att uses 1900mhz and 850mhz.
t-mobile uses 1700mhz.
Most ATT phones you see will be 850/1900/2100 capable for 3G.
Likewise most T-mobile phones will b 1700/2100 capable for 3G.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

I bet iPhone 5 launches on ATT first. Too soon to launch it on VZ after they just got iPhone 4.

yes verizon wont get iphone 5 until next year

 

[boomhower]

I hope you're not going to Verizon blindly, I've had both and had my fair share of dealing with both of their CS on plenty of occasions. Here is all I'll say

With Sprint, I was usually in a long ass wait cue, with Verizon I almost always got somebody real quick. As for quality level of the who I was dealing with? Verizon sucked BALLS, and they seemed to fuck up my bill 3 times a year for the 3 1/2 years I was with them.

To me it sounds like your going to spend a ton of money just to get more of the same.

Nah, I know VZW isn't the end all be all of customer service. None of the carriers are. Spending an hour getting my bill straight because they don't understand the concept of 30 days risk free is a bit rediculous. Beyond that, $10 increase for smartphones which will make my bill go up for my wifes line. No more yearly upgrade. Verizon's data speeds here are 2x-4x of Sprint with better voice coverage to boot. Money is a wash. Since I don't need 1500 minutes the 700 minute plan from VZW works fine. Verizon will be about $10 more after respective corporate discounts, Verizon's is a little more.

 

[shortylickens]

Verizon has messed up my bill plenty of times. When I am done with them this Nov I will not renew. Sprint outright stole from me. AT&T and T-mobile had great customer service (for me) but their network was not terribly impressive. After this its Virgin. Good network. Good prices. If it messes up, I leave any time.

Or maybe just a basic tracfone and wifi on my Droid.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Not my satisfaction. Every interaction I have had with them recently has been horrible. I'm selling my EVO, paying the ETF, and going to Verizon.

I've heard this about Sprint and then realized I've been a customer for over 5 years and have never had to talk to their CS. What in the world could someone ever need to talk to them for and what could they possibly do that is so awful?

*Nevermind* I just read a little further down the thread. Sounds like the majority of your issues are non-CS issues.

 

[Deeko]

Yeah, it was pointless to know when the iPhone was coming to Verizon

Well, its quite clear that you're A) forgetting that everyone "knew" when it was coming about a dozen times before the official release and B) really only interested in self-aggrandizing. Childish told-you-so attitudes aside, I might as well point out that Rudeguy's comment was actually completely, 100% accurate - he said it won't be on the shelves in January, and its not, so nice failed effort at being a dick. My comment as also completely accurate. DBZ's was also not worthy of the scorn you're attempting to bring.

Seriously, people have really short memories, and forget that we'd been having threads like that from maybe 2008 on. I read somewhere "Why do people always say that what they're looking for is in the last place they looked? Of course it is, you stop looking after you find it". When people said over and over again "its coming to Verizon, this is why, I bet its coming -x-"...well, sooner or later they were going to be right.

 

[her209]

I've heard this about Sprint and then realized I've been a customer for over 5 years and have never had to talk to their CS. What in the world could someone ever need to talk to them for and what could they possibly do that is so awful?

*Nevermind* I just read a little further down the thread. Sounds like the majority of your issues are non-CS issues.

I recently called to see if I could get two lines moved over from an existing Sprint family plan to mine doing a transfer of liability. It was like pulling teeth. They said it couldn't be done because mine was a discounted plan and the other one was not. I even spoke to a supervisor who just repeated Sprint policy ad naseum. I said fine and I asked about opening a new line of service and porting the number from that plan to my plan (Sprint to Sprint). Again they said no. They wouldn't offer any help either.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Well, its quite clear that you're A) forgetting that everyone "knew" when it was coming about a dozen times before the official release and B) really only interested in self-aggrandizing. Childish told-you-so attitudes aside, I might as well point out that Rudeguy's comment was actually completely, 100% accurate - he said it won't be on the shelves in January, and its not, so nice failed effort at being a dick. My comment as also completely accurate. DBZ's was also not worthy of the scorn you're attempting to bring.

Seriously, people have really short memories, and forget that we'd been having threads like that from maybe 2008 on. I read somewhere "Why do people always say that what they're looking for is in the last place they looked? Of course it is, you stop looking after you find it". When people said over and over again "its coming to Verizon, this is why, I bet its coming -x-"...well, sooner or later they were going to be right.

 

[shortylickens]

Well, its quite clear that you're A) forgetting that everyone "knew" when it was coming about a dozen times before the official release and B) really only interested in self-aggrandizing. Childish told-you-so attitudes aside, I might as well point out that Rudeguy's comment was actually completely, 100% accurate - he said it won't be on the shelves in January, and its not, so nice failed effort at being a dick. My comment as also completely accurate. DBZ's was also not worthy of the scorn you're attempting to bring.

Seriously, people have really short memories, and forget that we'd been having threads like that from maybe 2008 on. I read somewhere "Why do people always say that what they're looking for is in the last place they looked? Of course it is, you stop looking after you find it". When people said over and over again "its coming to Verizon, this is why, I bet its coming -x-"...well, sooner or later they were going to be right.

Actually the expression is "its the last place you would think to look".
And I know that because I know things. I dont let the internet do my thinking for me.

 

[Deeko]

Actually the expression is "its the last place you would think to look".
And I know that because I know things. I dont let the internet do my thinking for me.

Semantics aside, the point still stands.

 

[Patranus]

Why is it dumb?

Verizon: 93.2 million U.S. subscribers
AT&T: 93.8 million U.S. subscribers
Total: 187 million U.S. subscribers

T-Mobile: 33.8 U.S. subscribers (And requires custom hardware)
Sprint: 48.9 million U.S. subscribers
Total: 82.7 million U.S. Subscribers

So AT&T or version alone each have more customers than Sprint and T-Mobile combined.

Total for top 4: 269.7 million U.S. subscribers

Market share of AT&T + Verizon: 70%
Market share of T-Mobile + Sprint: 30%

And there is nothing prohibiting the phone from running on Sprint.

To run on T-Mobile Apple would have to customize their product to server 12.5% of the market.

 

[zerocool84]

Why is it dumb?

Verizon: 93.2 million U.S. subscribers
AT&T: 93.8 million U.S. subscribers
Total: 187 million U.S. subscribers

T-Mobile: 33.8 U.S. subscribers (And requires custom hardware)
Sprint: 48.9 million U.S. subscribers
Total: 82.7 million U.S. Subscribers

So AT&T or version alone each have more customers than Sprint and T-Mobile combined.

Total for top 4: 269.7 million U.S. subscribers

Market share of AT&T + Verizon: 70%
Market share of T-Mobile + Sprint: 30%

And there is nothing prohibiting the phone from running on Sprint.

To run on T-Mobile Apple would have to customize their product to server 12.5% of the market.

Yup, this is why I said I don't think it's worth it to them to make a T-Mobile and Sprint phone. Too much effort for too little return. Even if they do, I don't see it until next year cus I'm sure they want to see how iPhone on Verizon does before even thinking about going to Sprint/T-Mobile.

 

[shortylickens]

Semantics aside, the point still stands.

Your point was "people always say X" and they dont. Thats a straw man argument people use when they are looking to rant. Like "why do people always say Taco Bell is mexican food?"
They NEVER say that. Its just something elitists use to run their mouths.

 

[Deeko]

Your point was "people always say X" and they dont. Thats a straw man argument people use when they are looking to rant. Like "why do people always say Taco Bell is mexican food?"
They NEVER say that. Its just something elitists use to run their mouths.

*sigh* Try harder.

If you had actually read my post, I was not claiming ownership of that original quote. In fact, I quite clearly attributed it to something I read elsewhere. If you disagree with the statement made by the originator of that statement, take it up with them - frankly, that debate is entirely irrelevant. It was simply an analogy, and while you may be of the camp that likes to write off any analogy as a "straw man", it was plenty apt.

Anyway, since apparently you want this explained slowly, clearly, and multiple times, I will do so. People have been raving about rumors of "iPhone to Verizon" for a long time. Quite a few years now. Its not a recent thing. Everytime it came up, people said this was THE defining rumor, this is why its going to happen, and this is when it will happen. This cycle happened over, and over again.

Now - it was practically a given that it would happen sooner or later. It was just a matter of time. So my point in the quoted thread - and my defense of that point here - is simply that its going to happen, we can continue to rant about the rumors, but when we get an official announcement is when its real. Which was the case. And the point of my analogy that seems to have thrown you into such a tizzy was just that it makes sense that whatever the most recent set of rumors was turned out to be true. That's the nature of these things.

Is that direct enough for you, or am I still using a "straw man"?

edit: And for the record, you're wrong in your own straw man. I say Taco Bell is Mexican food. Delicious, delicious Mexican food.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Yup, this is why I said I don't think it's worth it to them to make a T-Mobile and Sprint phone. Too much effort for too little return. Even if they do, I don't see it until next year cus I'm sure they want to see how iPhone on Verizon does before even thinking about going to Sprint/T-Mobile.

I'm really clueless when it comes to hardware variants between providers. I understand the dramatic difference between the Verizon/ATT versions but what would be the major investment in rolling this out to Sprint if the Verizon phone is already developed? Is it that much different that investment would really be significant enough to ignore almost 50m current Sprint subscribers?

 

[pm]

Now - it was practically a given that it would happen sooner or later. It was just a matter of time. So my point in the quoted thread - and my defense of that point here - is simply that its going to happen, we can continue to rant about the rumors, but when we get an official announcement is when its real. Which was the case. And the point of my analogy that seems to have thrown you into such a tizzy was just that it makes sense that whatever the most recent set of rumors was turned out to be true. That's the nature of these things.

While I'm not disagreeing with what you wrote, I do think a bit of the point of this forum is that it's exciting talking about future technology - and a lot of this future technology is based on rumors, or secondhand descriptions, or whatever. But it's not exactly fact on what will happen, it's generally prognostication.

Plus there were several known facts - that AT&T had an exclusivity agreement that was going to expire (fact), that that agreement was going to expire in Jan. 2010 but was extended to Jan. 2011 (rumor, but widely circulated) and then there were a series of things that seem to indicate a Verizon iPhone launch (rumors).

So you are right. If you keep saying "a major earthquake is going to hit Southern California", then eventually you will be right. I agree. But, as opposed to predicting earthquakes, guessing about the future of technology is interesting and "fun". And when the rumors are based on more than guesses, it's not a huge stretch to say "yeah, this time it looks real".

edit: And for the record, you're wrong in your own straw man. I say Taco Bell is Mexican food. Delicious, delicious Mexican food.

I'm not sure that it's Mexican. In fact, I'm not sure it's food. And there's a class action lawsuit to back me up. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/fl-taco-bell-suit-20110124,0,3088351.story (I am, of course, joking. I like Taco Bell. If I have to eat fast food - and I generally avoid it - my two choices are Chick-Fil-A and Taco Bell.)

 

[Pliablemoose]

http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20110127/verizon-iphone-sales-potentially-huger-than-huge/

• 29 percent of current Verizon feature phone owners said they will “probably” or “definitely” upgrade to the Verizon iPhone in the next three months. The carrier has roughly 64 million postpaid feature phone users, so that’s 19 million potential iPhone upgrades, assuming eligibility.
• 25 percent of Verizon’s current smartphone users said they will “probably” or “definitely” switch to the iPhone. That’s 4.8 million additional potential iPhone sales, again assuming eligibility.

Grand total: 23.8 million potential Verizon iPhone sales–from the carrier’s installed base alone. Add to that the 5.6 percent of current AT&T iPhone users who told Baird they planned to switch to Verizon and that number rises to nearly 25 million.

That’s great for Verizon (though perhaps less so for its network) and even better for Apple. Not too bad for AT&T, either. Doesn’t bode well for Android handset makers like Motorola Mobility, though. As CEO Sanjay Jha said during an earnings call yesterday, the company has already seen a slowing of device shipments around news of the Verizon iPhone. “Since the announcement of the iPhone, we have seen some slowdown in our sell through of devices at Verizon,” Jha said. “There was anticipation of devices coming to Verizon even prior the announcement of the iPhone.”

I don't think it'll slow the Android race to the top that much, but it's going to be cool to watch...

 

[shortylickens]

You can never trust poll results, especially not for specific numbers. In reality it will be much higher or much lower than that 29%, but most of those people were just talking "in theory". When the iPhone actually hits, the feeding frenzy will cause many people who never wanted it to go out and get one anyway.
But a lot of folks who said they were seriously interested will falter at having to lay down a large sum of cash and extend their commitment for 2 more years.

 

[Fingolfin269]

If 29% of Verizon customers do take the plunge on the iPhone then I guess we really will get to see if AT&Ts network was really the problem, right?

*And I don't mean that as a negative comment against the iPhone, just that the phone itself drives even more people to consume data, many probably more than they've ever consumed before, thus straining the network.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I think 30% of V's customers switching is unrealistic,

 

[simonizor]

Do you really think Apple cares about money at this point? Steve Jobs probably takes showers in $100 bills.

If they wanted more money they'd just release something new. Everyone knows they could release cow shit with the Apple logo on it and people would go nuts for it.

 

[rcpratt]

30% of Verizon customers is absolutely nuts. Not a chance.

I'm more interested to see what % will be leaving Verizon because their good 4G phones are so far behind AT&T.