Sprint CEO Defends Company's Decision To Bet It All On the iPhone

zacharye writes "Sprint chief executive Dan Hesse is being watched closely by the company's board of directors, but the CEO has to answer to investors and subscribers as well. Last year in October, Hesse revealed that the company is placing a massive $15.5 billion bet on Apple's iPhone, and in a recent interview, Hesse defended the move, which has been criticized by a number of industry watchers. From the article: '“Subsidies are heavy for the iPhone. This is the reason why a high percentage of new customers is important,” Hesse said during the interview. “But iPhone customers have a lower level of churn and they actually use less data on average than a high-end 4G Android device. So from a cost point of view and a customer lifetime value perspective, they’re more profitable than the average smartphone customer.”'"

Re:Apple Customers

[ArhcAngel]

Well it might have been true before the 4S but not so much NOW [bloomberg.com]

Re:Apple Customers

[larry bagina]

Maybe they use less data because iPhone apps aren't constantly uploading their gps coordinates and downloading ads [microsoft.com]. If you look at mobile web traffic [padgadget.com], iOS beats android. Even when you factor out the iPad.

Re:iPhone users

[CharlyFoxtrot]

You forgot richer and better educated [splatf.com]. Oh and more sexually active [wired.com], that probably explains why there seem to be so many Android users on Slashdot.

Re:WiMax and LTE

[briankwest]

You do realize they had to deploy WiMax because they would have lost the spectrum if they had not. At the time wimax was the only technology they could have went with. /b

Canceled Sprint

[dustman81]

I recently canceled Sprint and paid the ETF to do so. That's after having Sprint for nearly 10 years. I got an iPhone 4S with Straight Talk ( MVNO that uses AT&T's network). Why? Because I wanted a data service that works. With Sprint, I was frequently on 1X. Even when I was on 3G, the speeds were crap. Sprint bit off more than they can chew with the iPhone. WiMax was a bust. Nextel customers are leaving in droves and their Network Vision plan may well be the final nail in the coffin.

Re:WiMax and LTE

[asm2750]

I would mod up if I had points. LTE is a joke when you have data caps. There is no reason for it.

Re:Apple Customers

[MisterMidi]

Yes they do [google.com]