Sprint says HTC still onside even with Apple pact

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse during a visit to Taiwan promised HTC that the carrier would continue to support HTC in spite of the iPhone 4S launch. He noted with Digitimes in attendance that the teamwork between Sprint and HTC had made the Evo 4G one of the most popular smartphones in the US, suggesting that the two needed each other. HTC was widely known to be Sprint's main smartphone supplier until at least Apple's arrival.

Inside details from the site's sources nonetheless show that HTC may be vulnerable to the iPhone's presence on the carrier. Its shipments to Sprint for this year are estimated to be about seven to eight million phones, or 35 percent of HTC's total phone shipments. Officially, Sprint has already said the iPhone 4S release smashed its one-day sales record in less than half a day, guaranteeing that the iPhone has at least briefly outsold the previously record-holding Evo 4G.

Less direct means have supported notions that HTC may be facing a sustained loss of share to Apple as a result of the deal. Analyst claims that the iPhone remains the top seller on Sprint have been supported by HTC's own drop in monthly revenue at a time of the year when it would almost always be going higher. The Taiwan phone maker has forecast a decline in shipments for the whole quarter that imply losses at Sprint will negate gains anywhere else.

While historical data is still small for multi-carrier availability in the US, Apple has so far always been the top individual phone maker on every carrier, with even its lowest end models outselling the top individual Android phone.

By Electronista Staff

Post tools:

TAGS :  

iPhone, industry, htc, Android, mobile phones, Apple, Evo 4G, iPhone 4S