Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse Says ‘Check Your Facts’: Palm Pre Not Going To Verizon In Six Months
At an official Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre press event this morning, Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse said today that the reports saying the company will have the device on an exclusive basis for six months are wrong. According to CNet, Hesse said: “They need to check their facts. That just is not the case. Both Palm and Sprint have agreed not to discuss the length of the exclusivity deal. But I can tell you it’s not six months.”
Last week, Reuters quoted Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s CEO, as saying in a webcast that over the next six months consumers could expect to see devices “like the Palm Pre and a second-generation Storm” on its network. Shortly after the story was published, a Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless’s spokesperson Jeffrey Nelson posted a message on Twitter, saying: “VZW CEO: We will have the Pre. Didn’t say when, but it’ll be part of our portfolio. Lowell did say a lot of new devices over next 6 months.” The message may have been implying that the timing could have been off.
But there was plenty of information that followed to make the statement sound totally believable. A Sprint spokesperson confirmed to Dow Jones:
To protect all parties, exclusive contracts have contingencies to extend the initial term such as sell-through, inventory turnover, returns, blems, reverse logistics, advertising and marketing co-op funds. In consumer electronics, the parties generally agree to a product or brand "exhaustion" on friendly terms and migrate to other models. Apple and AT&T are at this stage, and we can expect Palm and Sprint to be similar after 2009.
Palm cannot do another carrier deal until six months of selling the Pre with Sprint. Palm needs one million satisfied Pre users that will build demand for AT&T and Verizon customers to want the Pre. Palm needs a high number of Sprint Pre owners to brag to AT&T and Verizon customers. Sprint is not going to get carrier switchers except on price such as the Boost $50 Unlimited. Palmâs comeback proposition lies with upgrades at AT&T and Verizon company-owned stores in 2010.
I own a Sprint dealership and am terminating it in favor of AT&T later this month.
I am a 20 year veteran of the cellular industry representing almost every carrier at one time or another. We were originally a Preferred Partner for Nextel prior to the merger. In my time, I have never been associated with a carrier that operates the way Sprint does. They are a dirty operation, deceptive and most significantly … they couldnât care less about their customers. Donât believe me? When was the last time you had a productive conversation with their customer care reps?
Exclusive dealers are designed to be a reflection of the carrier. We are to operate and act as parallel to them in every way. I refuse to run my company in such a way to mirror an operation like Sprint.
Do yourself a favor. Skip Sprint. Go with a winner like AT&T or Verizon. Sprint is a sinking ship.
In reference to Bubba's comments about a "sinking ship", Sprint had a negative perception of Nextel dealers being blue-collar and former paging stores. Sprint believed that the Nextel distribution would fade and customers would favor Sprint stores, Best Buy and Radio Shack. Bubba's comments reflect the mistake of disregarding distribution in a merger.
Nice try sinker. We were hardly blue collar or paging. It's really the other way around. Anybody with a heartbeat and a corporation could get a Sprint contract. Nextel contracts were virtually impossible to obtain. You needed years of experience and some kind of wow factor to even be considered. Nextel originally sold almost exclusively to business. Sprint chased business customers with their internal sales teams. Dealers chased low end, poor credit customers that did 1 and 2 phone deals.
Sprint is a desperate company and their actions reflect this to a tee. Don't take my word … or the word of message boards and magazine articles. Check out the news from Wall Street. There is no bias there.
Right on Bubba, Sprint customer service is populated with rude ass holes, and they dont care if they keep you as a customer or not. Sprint might have low priced plans, but everything else with that company is going to cost. It is the only company that I know of who will go out of there way to piss you off. They push phones at the sprint stores, like flavor of the month ice cream. If you call their service, you cant understand them( some don ‘t speak very good english, and the ones that do, still don’t speak it very well). Plus they are all RUDE AS HELL.