Add Sprint-Nextel to the growing list of U.S. carriers that will offer the iPhone. The carrier is likely to gain the Apple handset by Christmas and it could be a big-seller, one analyst tells investors Wednesday.
The key is Sprint will be the last remaining U.S. carrier with an unlimited data plan after Verizon is expected to go to metered pricing Thursday. Being able to offer an iPhone with an unlimited data plan provides “an attractive proposition for more price-conscious users (a demographic that we think is increasingly important to Apple following the rise of Android), writes Citadel Securities analyst Shing Yin. Additionally, an Apple handset from Sprint could outsell the Verizon iPhone.
“Sprint could capture more than its fair share of iPhone sales, especially if it gets the new model at the same time as AT&T and Verizon,” Yin writes. There is “little reason for Apple to hold back” or for Verizon and AT&T to mount a legal challenge, the analyst concludes.
Adding Sprint to the U.S. mix both gives Apple multiple pricing tiers, but also increases the iPhone’s availability. As we’ve reported, after the iPhone became available from Verizon, new U.S. smartphone purchasers turned to Apple, stalling Android’s growth. With three carriers (possibly four, if you count the AT&T-acquired T-Mobile USA), Apple has a chance to control the domestic market, pushing Android to rely increasingly on foreign sales.
