Sprint's CFO admits the Pre was a bad idea, but things are getting better

By on May 19, 2010 at 6:43 AM
General May 19, 2010

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Sprint’s decision to enter into a lengthy and costly exclusivity period with the Palm Pre and Pixi was a bad idea. You know it, we know it, and now Sprint is finally admitting it knows it, too. During a conference call with analysts Monday, CFO Robert Brust conceded that “the Pre didn’t work out as well as we hoped” having failed to help put Sprint stop bleeding post-paid customers and fill its books with black ink. Though he was careful to also point to supply issues as playing a significant role in saga, Brust said Sprint learned valuable lessons which it will put to use on its next saviour, the HTC EVO 4G. And simply because there are some rumors circulating that Sprint might play a part selling the oft-rumored CDMA iPhone, Brust said Sprint would “love to have it” but said he was not aware of any plans to carry the mythical device.

[Via InformationWeek]

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  • William

    “Brust said Sprint learned valuable lessons which it will put to use on its next saviour, the HTC EVO 4G.”

    Really? By mandating a $10/month “premium data” charge on everyone, even people you don’t have 4G access? By charging $30/month for a feature that Verizon offers for free?

    • DJ

      What your saying is true, however verizon’s rate plan, data plan, navigator plan, nickel and dimes you to death. If you have good coverage in your area with sprint you can’t beat there rate plans. Until verizon got the droid there phones were pathetic and always behind other carriers.If you can buy the same phone on verizon you would pay well over $ 100.00 for comparable plan.

    • Ant

      Verizon offers the tethering feature for free on one device the Pre all others phones with Verizon you must pay to use that feature on the phone

    • Jordan

      You realize that a Verizon or AT&T smartphone with an identical plan runs $160/month? Let me spell this out… VZW or AT&T $70 for voice, 20 for text, 30 for data (no tethering included), and $10 for Navigation. Throw in another $30 for tethering runs a grand total of $160.

      Sprint offers $70 for voice, text, web, and navigation. $10 for 4G service (yes, even if you’re not currently in a 4G area), and $30 for wireless tethering to up to 8 devices… totalling $110/month.

      $50 savings over a 24 month contract is $1200… Not sure about you, but $1200 isn’t something I’m just going to throw away.

      • Karen

        > You realize that a Verizon or AT&T
        > smartphone with an identical plan
        > runs $160/month?

        Why use an example that few people actually need?

        My AT&T iPhone gets voice-rollover (I have *THOUSANDS* more minutes than I could ever use in my life.) $40

        Unlimited data. Any speed. $30

        Unlimited text message (100% free with a small, free app.)

        Total: $70. (I NEVER use all that’s offered.)

    • Joshua

      And yet in the end sprint has lower monthly charges than verizon, you cant beat price wise.

  • Notus

    Not sure EVO is going to be that “great” of a phone. You put that much crap into on phone and it’s bound to drain the battery faster. Hopefully it is packing Andoid 2.2 it will be interesting that for sure.

    • Derek

      Na, its 2.1 and no flash 10.1 on it. At least at launch time. And since it has Sense UI on it, no telling how long before it gets software updates.

  • Derek

    I never thought the Pre was a “bad idea”, its a great phone with a very good OS. What sucks is there’s only about 200 apps available for it. Hardware wise its got the same CPU/GPU as the iphone 3GS or Droid. Plus its got built in 8GB of memory.

    A friend has one and I’ve used it, it works very good. Just need more apps in the app store and it could be a great phone. The Pre Plus has mobile wifi sharing and more RAM, which is even better.

    • Travis

      Probably just a typo on your part, but there are actually over 2000 applications available.

    • rg

      Yea, the Pre itself wasn’t a bad idea. The ridiculous exclusivity contract with a sub-par carrier was the bad idea. The Pre was fantastic at the time, and is still pretty decent, but totally due for an update.

  • xman

    I don’t know about bad idea…. But bad execution and poor hardware from Palm really hurt the sales of the PRE, not to mention 2 years late and only 8GB of memory. WTF were they thinking?? I like WebOs and the design of the PRE over most phones. But in this competitive environment you have to come correct or don’t come at all.

  • Travis

    These Palm hit pieces on BGR are getting tedious, and borderline unprofessional.

    The headline of this article, and its content, represent a massive distortion of what the CFO actually said.

    Get it together BGR. You’re always a day late with Palm coverage, and then when it finally arrives it is totally divorced from reality.

    • Travis

      Apologies for the double post. I didn’t think the first one that I wrote on my iPod Touch had actually gone through.

  • effigy

    Mitch, you need to do a little more research. You a bit ignorant on your facts. Just this week reports came out putting Sprint ahead of AT&T in customer service. And they have the next to lowest dropped call rate in the industry. The bleeding customers are coming off of IDEN (truely a bad idea.)

  • Sprintbadboy

    So sprint, I guess you’re never getting anything from palm/hp anymore, for the crap said about them.

  • Don Louie

    Karen, that same $70 will get you more than any other carrier on the market and with AnyMobile there is no need for rollover and with discounts of 10% – 27% you come out way cheaper even with the Evo tax.

  • FishMan

    Hey Sprint, Keep the EVO in stock and I’ll buy one, maybe two. Not only that I will re-position myself in S.

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