Sprint says Android phone a matter of timing
updated 02:15 pm EST, Fri December 12, 2008
Sprint on Android Phone
Sprint late this week has revealed that its Android plans are dependent more on timing than on actual phones. Speaking to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the company's product VP Kevin Packingham says the launch of a phone using the Google OS hinges on a more substantial community and that the company can "pull the trigger" on a device when the time is right. The phone needs enough of a halo effect to draw in new customers to the carrier before Sprint can realistically launch, the official says.
"We've just got to make sure our customers are saying, 'If you had a phone like this, man, I would really be more interested in Sprint because of it,'" he explains. "You want to go out with a bang."
Packingham doesn't provide a hint as to when this might take place or which company would make the phone, though rumors have put an Android phone for Sprint as close as early 2009 and that the phone would be substantially different from the T-Mobile G1.
Sprint is under pressure to improve its phone catalog as the company has steadily lost customers to rival carriers, including AT&T for its iPhone as well as its closest CDMA rival, Verizon. The latter often shares a similar phone lineup and so negates many of Sprint's plans for exclusives.
