Here at the Noisecast, we keep a keen eye out for Windows Phone. We know eventually it will take its place among the major players. When you consider it’s role, not as a smartphone OS, but part of the whole Windows 8 ecosystem, it only makes sense. They’re even doing a pretty good job of building that ecosystem. Sprint, however, is having none of that.
Speaking at CES, Sprint VP David Owens said, in no uncertain terms, that they’re not interested in the Windows Phone platform at this time. Sprint is concerned that Microsoft isn’t doing enough to promote the product (we’d be inclined to agree). Owens left open the possibility of adding Windows Phone devices to their portfolio, but it’s not likely to happen any time soon.
It seems odd that Sprint is limiting their options. On the other hand, Sprint recently acquired the iPhone, AT&T failed to acquire T-Mobile, and Sprint is readying their LTE deployment and have devices like the Galaxy Nexus waiting in the wings. Sprint isn’t in quite the tenuous position they were a year ago. They’re still a distant third, sure, but there’s plenty of promise on Sprint’s horizon. They have some room to exercise some discretionary confidence.
Still, it doesn’t bode well for Microsoft. Flashback several years, when the iPhone was still an AT&T exclusive, Sprint jumped on the Android bandwagon before Verizon even got their feet wet in the modern smartphone wars. Today, they’re not even interested in keeping up with the big dogs. It says something about the state of the smartphone world. When Android came on the scene, it was critical for carriers to find an iPhone competitor. Their livelihoods depended on it. Windows Phone is not nearly so critical.
Windows Phone certainly has the potential to become something great, but it’s going to need to do something extra to convince the carriers that it’s worth investing in. Slick animations and colorful tiles might not be enough to build the ecosystem Microsoft needs right now.
Source: Android Police
Why does Sprint think that they’re big enough to pick and choose who they want to play with? They’re not exactly an iPhone or Android giant. What does it hurt to include an up and coming line of devices?
It actually probably would hurt them to take on devices they don’t need. Since Microsoft isn’t working too hard to push Windows Phone 7, it would be Sprint’s burden to do so. Remember the boost that Android got from that huge ad campaign Verizon launched? I think that one was rumored to cost around $100m. Meanwhile, in Q3 of 2011, Sprint experienced a growth in subscribers and still took a $300m net loss. Sprint can’t afford to finance another company’s platform and until Microsoft steps up their advertising, that’s essentially what they’d be asked to do.
Of course, this would’ve been a different conversation two years ago. With the iPhone stuck on AT&T, Android was the only choice that provided the potential for revenue that wasn’t the iPhone. If you were bleeding $300m a quarter then, you would still attempt to justify a financial investment on the idea that you’d make it back when the platform grows. Today, Windows Phone looks like it has a much harder road ahead of it before it reaches marketshare dominance (which translates to sales numbers, for a carrier). Also, it’s worth noting, it’s harder to differentiate with Windows Phone hardware, a key factor for carriers.
It’s really about certainty. Sprint knows they’ll make their money back with iPhone and Android devices. Windows Phone is a bit more up in the air and they’re too small to take that risk, and they have enough going for them that they don’t need to do it anyways.
If I was running Microsoft, Sprint would never get another Microsoft product ever, and that includes Windows 8 tablets.
this makes me sad. dammit sprint