According to various rumors on the Internet, Apple is planning to release their iPhone on the Sprint network as early as next summer. While nothing has been confirmed, the news has surprised a lot of industry experts, who had been expecting a possible announcement for the Verizon network, if anything at all.
Now before I continue this story, I must wonder how many of you are reading this with various levels of excitement and anticipation. Did the headline grab your attention? Did you think to yourself, “this is really big news” or “I’m on Sprint and now I can have an iPhone!” Are you still in a state of disbelief?
Well, I hate to break it to you, but the headline and first paragraph are completely made up. Let’s just call this a little experiment testing how strong of a hold the iPhone has on the market. Please read on and see if you can help me with my experiment!
I had this idea as I was contemplating an article that shows sales of the Palm Pre have slowed since its launch in June. If the findings by Wall Street analysts are correct, it would seem that the Palm Pre simply filled some pent-up demand for an advanced smartphone in the Sprint market. Likely, the Palm Pre sold well among more technical users but not much beyond that. Why isn’t the Palm Pre selling well? Is their marketing not hitting the mainstream market as I’ve theorized in two previous articles (Pre-view, Pre-judging Palm’s Ads)? Or is the mainstream simply not interested in the Pre? If they aren’t interested in the Pre, is it because they really want an iPhone instead?
While this “experiment” is far from scientific, I would like you to comment on this article, sharing your initial reaction when you first thought that the iPhone would be available on Sprint’s network (and then what you thought when I revealed it as a hoax!). I’m curious what an average person on the street thinks of the iPhone and its competitors.
Another thought that crossed my mind was that if Apple really wanted to kill the Pre, all they would need to do was float a rumor that the iPhone would be available on Sprint (or Verizon or any carrier that doesn’t yet have the iPhone but has or will have the Pre). My theory is that many people would hold off on purchasing a Pre if given the possibility that an iPhone was around the corner. I wonder if people are doing it anyway, not knowing that the odds of an iPhone on Sprint are very slim for the foreseeable future.
