Sprint Nextel backs off original Evo 4G sales claims

Sprint Nextel Corp. yesterday backed off previous claims that sales of the HTC Corp. Evo 4G device on its launch day of June 4 were three times higher than the combined sales of the carrier’s previous best sellers, the Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Instinct and Palm Inc. Pre, over their first three days.
The carrier said it erred in that comparison and that in fact launch day sales of the Evo 4G were six times higher than launch day sales for the Instinct and nearly twice the launch day sales of the Pre. In effect launch day sales for the new device were in line with combined sales of the other two devices over their first three days on the market.
The announcement forced one analyst to cut his sales estimates for the device from between 250,000 to 300,000 sold over the opening weekend to around 150,000 devices sold.
“Now Sprint must contend with the launch of the new iPhone by AT&T Wireless, which has pushed the HTC EVO out of the mainstream press,” the Kansas City Business Journal reported BTIG Research’ Walter Piecyk wrote in a note to clients. “It is really incredible that the planning for this product fell short given the time and hype leading up to this date.”
Similar to the Instinct in 2008 and Pre in 2009, Sprint Nextel has a lot riding on the Evo 4G, the first smartphone compatible with the carrier’s WiMAX service. (All three of those devices were launched within weeks of updated iPhone models from Apple Inc. that continue to be offered exclusively through the nation’s No. 2 carrier AT&T Mobility.) The carrier has been battling to retain lucrative postpaid customers that over the past couple of years have been fleeing the nation’s No. 3 carrier for its rivals, and recently reinforced its prepaid offerings to take advantage of that growing segment.
The Evo 4G sports the latest version of Google Inc.’s Android operating system as well as a substantial 4.3-inch screen that dwarfs the 3.5-inch screen on iPhone models. In addition, the Evo allows Sprint Nextel to tout being the first carrier to offer a mobile device compatible with a next-generation network, in this case the WiMAX network that it has dubbed “4G.” The advanced network provides a substantial bump in network data speeds compared with the carrier’s CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A network.
Verizon Wireless and MetroPCS Communications Inc. have said they plan to unveil next generation networks using LTE technology by the end of the year, with MetroPCS saying it has already enlisted Samsung to provide a smartphone for its offering.
However, critics have claimed Sprint Nextel’s WiMAX network lacks the coverage, 43 million potential customers covered in 33 markets with 120 million pops expected to be covered by year end, to fulfill consumer expectations. Sprint Nextel is also requiring a $10 data premium for the device regardless of whether a customer lives in a market covered by the WiMAX network. The premium does allow for unlimited access to the WiMAX network, which counters AT&T Mobility’s recently altered smartphone data plans that cut the previous unlimited offering to a 2 gigabyte cap with a $10 overage charge per additional gigabyte consumed.