Sprint makes biggest customer gains in five years, still losing money 55
Sun, 13 Feb 2011 3:39 pm EST
Sprint, where we know a good many of you reside, is on the up-and-up. Just this week they posted their biggest quarterly customer gains in five years (yes, that’s 2006), adding a net 1.1 million to Sprint’s base in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2010. There’s a flip-side to that coin, however, as only 58,000 of those customers were traditional postpaid, with the other 1.04 million all pre-paid customers. That said, Sprint did experience their lowest postpaid customer churn in company history, with just 1.86 percent of postpaid leaving for greener cellular pastures.
All that said, Sprint is still losing money. This quarter marked another decline, with $139 million disappearing from Sprint’s coffers, despite the $8.3 billion in revenues for the quarter. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse says he sees momentum in the company’s path, expecting Sprint to see more net customer additions in the current year. Give us some new Palm devices on Sprint and we might just agree.
55 Comments
Your story scrambles the numbers: "adding a net 1.1 million to Sprint’s base in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2010. There’s a flip-side to that coin, however, as all but 58,000 of those customers were traditional postpaid, with the other 1.94 million all pre-paid customers."
Engadget’s story says that only 58,000 were postpaid (not “all but 58,000”). Not sure where the number 1.94 million comes from . . . .
If they netted 1.1 million customers and 58,000 (.058 million) were postpaid than 1.1 - .058 is 1.042. 1,042,000 are prepaid customers. Wow, they need the Pre 3 so we can add to their contract list. HP needs to announce carriers asap!
There is a reason they are losing customers. I know at least 5 of my close friends that all switched from Sprint to Verizon a while back. Sprint's coverage sucks big time unless you in the center of a major city. I don't know if that changed at all but it used to be that if one travels 5 miles outside of the city they can pretty much toss their Sprint phone outside the window.
I never even thought of joining Sprint or Nextel in the past. I knew the moment the two crappy companies got together the things would go even more downhill. We had Nextel for our office which now is Sprint and their customer service is most ridiculous thing in the industry.
Honestly I am really surprised that they didn't file for bankruptcy yet.
I was very hesitant to go to Sprint when they initially got the Pre but I have loved it so far. Good service in all of my experiences, both customer service and actual phone service. And great rates taboot. It's why I want the Pre 3 to come there. They just need to make the damn announcement already.
I used the spring navigation on my Pre to get me from houston to detroit. I had a total of 1 hour of driving where It said it was roaming.
I have heard that sprint has the worst coverage, but when I first got sprint, my friends with AT&T had to keep a roll of quarters with them, so they can use payphones when their calls kept dropping.
T-mobile has the worst coverage, not Sprint. Sprint coverage really does need a LOT of work. For all the grief that AT&T gets in the press, the quality of service is NOT that bad if you understand how to turn off 3G.
That is a key factor, if you have WiFi, why do you need 3G turned on?
Ummm, yeah, so like the story is about how they GAINED customers, but still lost money. So they are NOT losing customers...
And in terms of their financials, it's going to stay that way for a while. Sprint has a debt addiction, paralleled only by the US Federal Government as far as I can tell. (Okay, that's an exaggeration, but still...) And some of their debt is at a pretty high interest rate. Hesse has the right idea though: the only way for them to return to profitability is to gain customers, thereby increasing revenues. Let's face it, a loss of of only $100mil or so is a drop in the bucket compared to the losses they have been posting since the huge Nextel fiasco.
Bankruptcy? Puh-leazze! We're still talking about a $40 Billion dollar corporation here. The debt is bad, but not unmanageable.
You nailed it right on the head. Maybe with all these new changes to their plans they will actually post a profit for quarter 1 of 2011.
Sprint service is fine. I travel all over the country and very rairly have a issue. You dont want to take off on back roads or using the GPS, 3G cover only the main roads. As far as phone calls, they use Verizons network for roaming. So, if you can make a call on Verizon, you can make one on Sprint. Of course roaming eats up your battery.
That being said, I am trying to find a way out of my contract. Sprint has steadily increased my bill. Taking away employer discounts and adding fees. Last month my bill was $80 higher. Verizon and AT&T would now be comparible with my discounts on their service and they have a much better selection of devices.
In fall/2008, I drove from Sacramento, CA to Washington, DC. I was using my Sprint pre- as a GPS throughout that journey. The only area I was having some connection problems, was around some parts of Nevada ant Utah. I guess that was due to the hills/mountains along the road and I am sure that any phone or career service that same issue around that area.
As for me, I am ok with Sprint signal strength as long as they can make me go back to webos ASAP. Get me a Pre^3 soon so I can donate my evo.
I am bad with the typings and the words.
Good catch brentj! Smart people like you should be on Jeopardy.
I trust ol' Dan to do right by us here webOS users! *spits in spitoon*
Why so he can just get beat by a stupid computer named watson?
They'll be losing me for sure if they don't have the Pre3 this summer! After 9 years, I'll bail in a heartbeat if they stick with this android only crap..
They are definitely going to stick with Android. Why would they ditch an OS that is helping them? As far as the Pre 3 goes, yes, I really hope they carry it. It looks pretty awesome.
Read what volcom45 said, "...this android only crap". In other words, Android isn't a problem, but if a carrier is ONLY about Android with nothing else, then that is crap.
Notice that many people on AT&T have felt the same way about the "iPhone, iPhone, iPhone" approach and holding back OS updates for all other phones by 4+ months. Verizon is the same with their "Droid" phones where those with other devices are left feeling like Verizon doesn't care about them.
Carriers need to get away from this "we only care about exclusive devices that no one else has" approach and treat ALL devices equally.
Well if they're going to limit their network to strictly Android users I don't see an improvement in the near future. Launching the Pre3 would obviously help considering most people on this site are on Sprint. I'm not saying WebOS is the answer to their problems. If I was Sprint I would beef up the phone selection.
Switch to LTE, release the stupid iPhone (that'll help for sure), and get WebOS up and running again (Pre3).
This would definitely help. Again you may spend money on the initial investment, but I personally know a lot of iPhone users that hate AT&T and I am sure if it's a toss up between Verizon and Sprint many users will go with Sprint because you just can't beat the low monthly prices (even after the dumb $10 increase).
Stop screwing around with dual screen phones (dumbest idea ever in my opinion) and put money into something that'll return some revenue.... Hmmm maybe I should apply for the CEO position haha
P.S. Dan looks like he's about to fart in that pic haha
Your fart comment was hilarious.
I agree with what you said about getting the iPhone and releasing the Pre 3. The dual screen phone is a joke. Sooo stupid. That's what you call trying too hard. Its easy, release the Pre 3, release the iPhone, and release an EVO 2 and I can guarantee they will have the biggest customer gains in their history.
Well there gonna lose my money in the next week or so after the bullshit letter I just got about all my upgrades and the fact that they keep changing my join date.
I have 3 phones on my account and am paying almost $180 a month and still I'm a silver member. The worst part is I'm due for an upgrade right now, and if I don't use it by March 31st I loose my upgrade until December because of the "changes". If no Pre 3 or other new phones I want come out by then than I'm stuck until December. Sprint you suck!
I don't like them screwing me on their Premier Plan. They deserve problems. I'd be happy to bail on them if I could get Verizon for up to $20 more per month.
Derek, I think you meant, "Sprint CEO Dan Hesse says he sees momentum in the company’s path, expecting Sprint to see more net customer ~additions~ in the current year." I don't mean nothin' by it. I notice typos on the packaging at the grocery store.
Goram autocorrect and goram proofreading.
Sprint is pretty bad in Illinois because of their iPCS Affiliate. Coverage is terrible and they make no effort to fix it. Despite the low cost plans, people flee Sprint around here. If you tell someone "Oh my bill is cheaper at Sprint" you will hear the following response: "At least I get a signal"
I wanna curb stomp that smug looking douche.
The way I see it around precentral there will be a Sprint Exodus if the Pre 3 doesn't come out on Sprint. So let's see what happens.
Don't count on it. Us Palm users are a small minority, even in Sprint.
Make the prepaids pay the extra $10 a month instead of the committed accounts. There problem solved with deficits. Seems it is their problem being VAST mojority of the new subs being prepaids.
Killing off the Premier Plan will put a dent in those numbers, believe it.
Cash flows and equipment revenue is up. Also the post-paid losses dropped from 3.6 million in 09 to 800,000 in '10. Clearwire investment cost them a *lot*, and now that that's gone from their cash flows, their numbers are looking much better.
Only 58,000 are postpaid. "The company added nearly 1.1 million total wireless subscribers driven by net postpaid subscriber additions of 58,000," http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1796 Prepaids are not as profitable and that is the huge majority of sprint new customers. That's a problem.
Net additions are less important than churn for Sprint right now. They're getting plenty of new additions, but they're losing *tons* of customers. Look at the actual numbers in the report, they're doing better.
The difference between 1.1 and 58k is Sprint again lost like 1 million IDEN subscribers...
I love how these blogs continue to leave out how Sprint is saddled with that loser of Network IDEN/NEXTEL and that continues to contract away from the Gains made in CDMA where all us PRE Users live...
Sprint CDMA added 530K Post Paid subs and 1.5 million pre-paid....But adding in IDEN distorts all of this.
I still say a lot of those Nextel execs deserve to be in prison.
I came to Sprint from Tmo to get the Pre. Was with Tmo for years. Back in those Jamie Lee Curtis days. Sprint on the whole has treated me ok, no real problems. Was looking forward to getting a new Pre come July when my one year fling with the Evo was up. Well that went poof. So now I have to ask myself where do I want to be. Stay with Sprint and hold out for another year. Or jump back to Tmo or another carrier. For all I know there may be an IP5 and Pre3 on Tmo by then. Or I could got to Big Red or the Deathstar.
Either way Sprint is ATM not looking like the best of all options. HEY SPRINT DO YOU HEAR ME NOW!!!!
Sprint + Pre3 = Success for Sprint
Sprint + Pre3 = Party for Me
I'm in the same boat as many... Althoug I've been with Sprint over 10 years, so I'll stay gold. I was due for my Premier upgrade in August, but am holding out for a new WebOS phone.
I love Sprint - have great coverage everywhere I travel, never a customer service issue, and with work and long customer discounts, even with the fee increase I'm still getting a better deal than anywhere else. I've always said "carrier first, phone second." But, now that I'm in love with WebOS, I'm planning on ditching when my contract is up unless I can get an HP/Palm WebOS phone on Sprint.
Problem is, right now my modem/radio has crapped out, and unless I can get it working soon on my own (Im trying to get through the flash process) I'm gonna have to stop by a store to get whatever they will replace it with...
As much as I love my Pre, if I can't even make CALLS, it's a bit pointless. Come on, Sprint! I don't wanna leave! Help a girl out!
I'll help you out baby! Jk. Seriously though, you should look into getting your Pre minus modified to a Pre plus. I was half tempted but didn't want to screw up a perfectly good phone. You could also find Pre minus on ebay or craigslist for really cheap, and they actually still work, must of the time.
I agree. I was with Tmo since I was 18. It was one of my "big boy" moves, to have my own contract with a cellular company amongst other things like getting a bank acc, credit card, etc.
I joined Sprint after 5 years of Tmo, now my second yr with Sprint is almost over(Aug) and I can't find a good enough reason to stay with them on or off contract. if I get another phone now - second Pre(-) in very bad shape - I will have another 2 yrs with this company that's rife with disappointments and unsettling mysteries.
But maybe I'm just being a big girl. Otherwise, Sprint has been great for me. This site has exposed Sprint's flaws to me for the first time, thanks P|C.
I was with sprint few years before they purchased nextel and been w them since. If they drop hp, I'll g w another carrier even if its a cost increase. I love webos that much. Android just is too clunky as of ow for me. Win 7 looks better than droids in my eyes.
Well, I'll tell you one thing, I did the math today and with the mandatory $10 smartphone tax and killing the year upgrades, I can get pretty damn near the same service on Verizon for the same money I'm paying now. GPS is the only thing I lose...
I won't be too upset if I wind up having to switch to VZ for the Pre3 at this point.
If Sprint doesn't get the Pre 3, they are going to lose 90% of their webOS customers. It would be a crime shame to see 15000 people leave Sprint because of webOS. A crime shame I tell you.
"crying shame" or "crime", I don't think you can combine them :)
still, that's a big chunk of lost contracts, and smart phone contracts at that.
The reason why they're still in the red money wise is because they have not one, but two huge albatrosses around their neck - Nextel (and the $20B+ write off hit they took a few years ago), and Clearwire (which is running operating margins of negative-350% and bleeding cash as fast as Sprint had been losing customers).
The good news here is that this is at least the second quarter in a row where Sprint posted positive net-adds to their subscriber base. Prior to that, they hadn't added customers since early 2007.
Sprint WILL get the Pre3. And assuming the roam-only patch will still work, you can get the best prices & discounts with Sprint and still roam on big red should you have the need. Win-win if you ask me.
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http://www.cellhub.com/t-mobile-cell-phones/samsung-galaxy-s-4g-black.html
Samsung Vibrant 4G
Hey Derek,
I just want to double check that this article wasn't supposed to be about T-Mobile and that all the Sprint references weren't just a bunch of more typos. Ha! Couldn't resist.
I'm one of those new customers in the last year, attracted from T-Mobile by Sprint's fixed price unlimited data, unlimited text plan and the availability of Palm hardware.
At the time T-Mobile was lagging in leading edge handsets and Sprint was leading edge with the Evo and Pre, neither crippled by carrier restrictions.
Sprint isn't perfect - I have a rural area I visit with some frequency that lacks data coverage and where even voice coverage is worse than my old T-Mobile, but overall I'm happy with the value for the money.
My choice of the Pixi over the Pre was partly cost (the Pixi was 'free' on contract) but also recommended by the Pre's reliability issues.
To stay with Sprint, like others here, I will need an HP webOS upgrade path. I personally want a Veer which initially isn't bound for Sprint. We'll see. Early Pre adopters understandably face more pressure to find a replacement.
Sprint needs to keep up the customer growth by offering better value, it needs to pay down debt, it needs to continue to offer leading edge handsets and devices. The new HP webOS devices should be part of that formula, but Android is also key to Sprint.
NEEDS HPALM.
otherwise, I, well I don't know. Big Red would be 60 dollars a month or more per month (we have 2 devices), cause exchange email costs 15 bucks a month (douche bag move if there ever was one) no working GPS, and bad customer service.
so if no pre3 i don't know what i'll do. Unless ATT gets one.
Love the picture, Kessler. How long did it take you to get that screenshot from the video?
How 'bout Spring+Verizon??
I agree that messing with the Premier plan and forcing the $10 data tax will encourage more customers to look elsewhere.
I wonder if Sprint believes the additional income will be greater than customer loss.
The Premiere thing is a d-bag move for sure. You don't take away features.
Sprint spends lots of money in Nascar... Billions a year... (or more to the higher end million bracket)... Still, its a waste of money.