U.S. Cellular places turnaround hopes on iPhone 5 alongside T-Mobile
https://latestsnewsforyou.blogspot.com/2013/05/us-cellular-places-turnaround-hopes-on.html
Posted by Will Stabley
Tired of losing customers who wanted an iPhone 5 it couldn’t offer them, U.S. Cellular says it will begin offering the popular Apple device later this year. The second tier carrier is following a storyline similar to that of fellow carrier T-Mobile, which rolled out the iPhone 5 weeks ago for the same reason. Smaller carriers have been reticent to carry the iPhone due to its higher cost – which they have to eat in order to give the device a price tag like $199 and then recoup gradually through an increased customer base – but have given in one by one as customers have demanded as much. The move all but completes the arrival of the iPhone 5 onto every major and semi-major U.S. carrier since its September launch.
ven as carriers have promoted various competing Android phones, and attracted significant sales, they’ve learned one by one that growing their customer base or even retaining it is a challenge without the iPhone to offer. When Apple’s phone initially launched on AT&T exclusively, Verizon fought back with Droid phones for a few years but its customer base remained stagnant as it lost iPhone customers to AT&T even while adding new ones to take their place. Ultimately Verizon opted to add the iPhone to its arsenal, and has since stolen away most of AT&T’s growth. Sprint added the iPhone a short time after, effectively betting the company’s future on the expectation of an influx of new iPhone users, and T-Mobile joined in later. Now comes U.S. Cellular with the iPhone 5, presumably, as its quarterly earnings simply stated that it plans to offer “Apple products.”
The vagueness on the part of U.S. Cellular may be due to the fact that Apple will be introducing a new flagship iPhone later this year to go alongside the iPhone 5. By the time the carrier puts its iPhone launch together, it may have multiple iPhone generations to offer. T-Mobile is initially only offering the iPhone 5, which it had Apple slightly alter for better compatibility with its network, while taking a pass on incompatible older iPhone models.
stableytimes.com
ven as carriers have promoted various competing Android phones, and attracted significant sales, they’ve learned one by one that growing their customer base or even retaining it is a challenge without the iPhone to offer. When Apple’s phone initially launched on AT&T exclusively, Verizon fought back with Droid phones for a few years but its customer base remained stagnant as it lost iPhone customers to AT&T even while adding new ones to take their place. Ultimately Verizon opted to add the iPhone to its arsenal, and has since stolen away most of AT&T’s growth. Sprint added the iPhone a short time after, effectively betting the company’s future on the expectation of an influx of new iPhone users, and T-Mobile joined in later. Now comes U.S. Cellular with the iPhone 5, presumably, as its quarterly earnings simply stated that it plans to offer “Apple products.”
The vagueness on the part of U.S. Cellular may be due to the fact that Apple will be introducing a new flagship iPhone later this year to go alongside the iPhone 5. By the time the carrier puts its iPhone launch together, it may have multiple iPhone generations to offer. T-Mobile is initially only offering the iPhone 5, which it had Apple slightly alter for better compatibility with its network, while taking a pass on incompatible older iPhone models.
stableytimes.com
