Following up, Sprint has launched the HTC Hero after months of speculation and the first reveal by PhoneNews.com.
The Sprint version of the Hero is functionally identical to the reference GSM version with the same 3.2-inch multitouch capacitive display, 5.0 megapixel camera with video recorder, microSDHC slot, 3.5mm headphone jack, HTML browser and the Sense UI frontend.
The rest of the featureset consists of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with stereo audio support, accelerometer and speakerphone.
Pricing is set at $179.99 after minimum $69.99 Everything Plan or higher selection, $50 instant rebate, $100 mail-in rebate and new 2 year agreement.
airhead, how do you know?? When I went to upgrade online, it didn’t ask me to change my plan the way it does with the Hero or the Pre. It just took me to the next step, (accessory options) and then the shopping cart which displayed the phone. I didn’t get it because I do not have the full upgrade credit yet, but it didn’t look like there were any restrictions. If you called sprint customer service, they could be giving you wrong information because they don’t seem to know what phones are available on which plans.
Why they want a plan change
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/smartphone-subsidies-problematic-sprint/2009-11-02
@ don Louie
The whole point is that they subsidize the phone, but then create a loyal customer who stays with them for at least two years therefore making them the money back. I don’t know how much it costs them to provide service to each additional user, therefore I can’t say how much profit per user they are getting, but the mobile phone industry has mostly fixed costs and therefore the more customers the better even if some are paying less.
However, if sprint has decided that the customers with older plans are not paying enough to make a subsidy for a smart phone worth it (although I don’t see how that is possible) its still not an excuse for alienating customers. Even if Sprint is only braking even on the subsidy vs. the profit from cheap older plans, it would still make sense to keep those customers for the referrals rather then pushing them out.
Finally, if sprint decided that they do not want to break even on the phone rebates just to keep customers for the referrals, the smart thing to do would be to allow people to use the phones but don’t offer subsidies for plans under 40 or 50 dollars. That way the people that want a hero and have an older plan can still get it, and have to decide if its worth it for them to pay extra for the phone now but keep their plan, or switch plans and get the subsidy.
This way they would not alienate customers. Plus people will buy phones at full price, which will generate profit, or switch plans which is what Sprint is pushing for accept not very effectively. I’m sure some people will still be upset, but I think that would make a lot more sense. Just say that you can no longer renew a plan that doesn’t exist, therefore you can not get a upgrade discount. If you renew your contract onto a current plan, you get the full discount. Doesn’t that make a lot more sense?
@ Igor
I only said the Moment “appeared” to need an everything plan because within the Moment’s listing in the Sprint Phones list it said something like “about plans for this phone” and when I clicked on it, it only listed evrything plans. Believe me, I was unhappy to see that and hope that you are right!