Come a week from today, Sprint will have a dilemma. The Samsung Instinct isn’t out yet, but all of Instinct’s selling points will be equalized. A second-generation Apple iPhone may actually beat Instinct to market, and won’t feature Sprint’s horrid plan limitations.
Oh, and it may be cheaper too. But, I’ll tell Sprint how to get out of the problem.
The Instinct was all the right ideas… all at the wrong time. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say, nobody will see Instinct in a positive light come next Monday. Not you, not me, and certainly not behind closed doors at Sprint.
Here’s why. Even if you take iPhone’s most minimal announcements come next Monday, and the new iPhone conquers Instinct in just about every respect.
The new iPhone will have 3G. In fact, compared to Instinct, it’s faster. Instinct lacks EV-DO Rev A, meaning that the HSPA radio in iPhone will be able to run circles around Instinct.
Correction: Bad information at first impressions tend to stick. At the launch event, I was told Instinct was EV-DO Rev 0. It is indeed Rev A, and I apologize for the confusion. However, the point remains the same; the HSPA Infineon chipset in the second-generation iPhone is faster than EV-DO Rev A, when sufficient bandwidth is provided from the tower. And, AT&T is upgrading their network right now to supply that bandwdith.
Instinct also looks bad in the wake of a plan choice. Sprint has decided to require the confusingly-named Sprint Everything plans, which include the Simply Everything plan, but not just the Simply Everything plans, also the other Sprint Everything plans. Have a headache yet?
In reality, this motive was to control availability. By making them only available on a handful of new-generation plans, most early adopters will be new subscribers. After an exhaustive prodding and researching of sources at every level in Sprint, this is the only reason we can find for Instinct’s plan limitations.
For a phone that’s meant to stem the tide of iPhone converts, that’s a losing scenario.
And, wait, there’s more! Sprint was hoping to peg the phone within $50 to $100 less of iPhone. But, expectations are that at least one iPhone variant may actually hit the $200 price point. That’s especially clear if Apple relaxes requirements to not subsidize their phones, inserting a $150 discount via AT&T new two-year agreement.
What does this add up to? A nightmare for Sprint. And, that’s why you’re hearing so little about Instinct right now in terms of release. Sprint made the smart move to hold off on pegging price point and release info until after Apple’s WWDC expo, where iPhone will be upgraded.
So, what should Sprint do? Simple, take the hit and price Instinct down to half of whatever the low end iPhone costs. These customers are high ARPU users, and Sprint has a hot product that’s going to take a hit. Instinct is not worthless. It is however now a budget offering.
The one problem Sprint will have with this though, is it will tear a hole in the pricing of the rest of Sprint’s phones, which certainly aren’t all free after rebate. My advice would be to price down phones that simply are outpaced by Instinct, but leave phones that have some form of comparative advantage to Instinct in the lineup (PDAs, smartphones, QChat phones, iDEN, etc). The result? A few phones will get their prices slashed similarly, but the lineup remains intact.
And, finally, tout Instinct as a budget iPhone, with identical feature sets. People know Instinct is an iPhone wannabe. Don’t hold it to the same standard. Instead, argue that it does everything the best iPhone does, at half the price of the weakest iPhone. Keep it simple, show it in action, tout Sprint exclusives (Sprint TV), and leave it at that.
Good luck Sprint, you’ll need it, but Instinct has a clear niche that can be gained from if targeted… and priced… properly.
Phone Encyclopedia: Apple iPhone
Phone Encyclopedia: Samsung Instinct
ChrisL, Sprint eCare has a notorious track record of giving incorrect information. That track record has been running for over five years… so I wouldn’t put a lot of faith in the email they sent to you.
eCare is at its worst when talking about unlaunched products. Everything Sprint has provided me states that the only family plan which might be able to support Instinct, is under SERO or an Everything Family Plan.
ok apple fanboy. I have one question: can the iphone be used as a modem?
NO. the instinct is better than anything the 2g iphone has to offer.
Instinct requires a PAM plan, and it appears Sprint has removed any blocks from it using standard plans.
iPhone however can be jailbroken, and with a few clicks, and a few taps… yes it can be used as a modem, thanks to a little application called tinyproxy. And, it works with Wi-Fi, so no need to fiddle around with Bluetooth or USB.
My iPhone works quite well as a modem, and I have no doubt the 3G iPhone will have any problem doing that either. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see AT&T roll out LaptopConnect plans just for the 3G iPhone.
Anyone care that if the iPhone is damaged(seen only about 4 people with one in my rural area-2 had cracked screens) you just have to buy another. You do the same also if the phone is stolen. It has always been essential for me to have insurance on my phones. My wife washed one of her phones(Samsung) & another one screen was cracked when dropped(Centro). But replaced easily with a $50 deductible. One positive point for the Instinct?
Kenneth, I don’t know who’s telling you that iPhone “just has to be replaced”.
Generally, Apple charges around $200 to fix an iPhone. Granted, that is about half the cost of a new unit, but you don’t simply throw away a damaged iPhone.
As to insurance… you do have to take out a policy with someone other than AT&T (I’ve heard State Farm may be insuring them). However, that wasn’t AT&T’s call, it was AT&T’s insurance provider, Asurion.
Why must ATT have such a different agreement with Assurian than Verizon or Sprint($50 deductible replaces damaged lost, stolen, phones/smartphones). While ATT just started with smartphones(with much higher deductible-why?). And with ATT/Apple’s luxury item iPhone, nothing. I’ll start working @ ATT or Apple, then get one.
Anyone have a price range for the Instinct ? I’m torn between two other Sprint phones, and price would definitely be a deciding factor. Thanks.
I called sprint yesterday and was told that after 150.00 rebate the price will be 179.00. I also changed my plan to Simple Everything 450 and there is nothing confusing about that. AND THE PLAN IS NOT MANDATORY . You can keep your old plan, but, GPS, free text, picture mail, video, Live TV, free internet, free weekends and after 7PM with 450 minutes for only 69.99!! If you find a better deal please let me know. The only limitation is not being able to use the phone as a modem.
this guy sounds like a fan of idiotphone to me and if you look everyone who agrees with these comments are idiotphone groupies been with sprint since 98′ no dropped calls no bad customer service if the phone customers were not worried about another phone competing with the phone the would not be on this site checking up on it or even better why are you here if the phone is so special just talk on your icrap and quit ya bloodclot cryin’
[…] News As we’ve prevously covered, the price and targeting of Samsung’s Instinct will be crucial in response to the advent of […]
Now that the new plans are out it’s less of a blow, actually it’s not one at all, the price is a different story though. I thought it would be at least $10 cheaper the iphone, was hoping for $50
You guys are all stupid and full of shit.. how the fuck can you know the price of the phone if its still not on sale!!!
Either you buy it or you dont you cheak mothafo’s
Corey is correct !
I confirmed last night that you CAN use the Instinct with the SERO plan !!!
I received two different emails from sprint e-care and chatted online with a CSR.
All THREE of them said yes, yes, yes…….you can can use this phone on the SERO plan.
They said that in order to utilize the GPS feature, it will cost extra ($5 or $10) and there was something else, but it wasnt anything i was interested in anyway.
The bottom line is unlimited data, text, email, etc………for $30!! Who can beat that?!?!
i talked to 3 different reps and they told me I had to change from my SERO to the simply something plan.
Ok, wow… This editorial is very, very biased. But people shouldn’t get all heated up about it. It’s just one guys VERY biased, ill-informed and probably unresearched opinion. First off, lemme start by saying if you want to get a true impression of the phone, go to a store and try it for yourself.
I love the iPhone like the next guy but there’s no need to bag on ALL of the other full touch screen based phones that come out after it and if my memory serves me correctly, Palm phones had threaded text long before the iPhone. It is by all means NOT the first touch screen phone to come out and the only WOW features of it are visual voicemail, that beautiful browser and the UI. And to say that Sprint TV is the only feature of the Instinct? Wow, hmmm, holding it in my hand right now and lets see… Sprint TV, yes, Navigation, which yes, is better than the iPhone by far and from what I’ve heard should be better on the 3G with a better navigation from TomTom. What else is there? Over the air music downloads, radio, personally ain’t gonna use that, picture mail and personal online photo album, Live Search, and of course an HTML browser, that I must say SUCKS compared to the iPhones browser but with software in development like Firefox3 Mobile and Skyfire hopefully with provide a better alternative to the phones browser. Then there’s the speech to action that’s a cool feature. And don’t forget MMS. You REALLY showed how biased you were when you made that comment about the Sprint TV being the ONLY feature of the Instinct.
As far as the plans being complicated… I had no problem switching over to the 69.99 everything 450 plan to accommodate for this phone. Why am I gonna buy a phone and then not get the plan to back up the features that are on the phone? If all I want to use a phone for is to talk, text & email, I’d get a Palm or a Blackberry if I still wanted a touch screen phone. The plans are not at all complicated. There are only 3 Everything plans that are pretty straight forward and there aren’t any comparable plans for the price with any other carrier. Show’s how much you want to show that you don’t like Sprint. I don’t see any ‘limitations” with my plan.
As far as HSPA, yes, in theory it should be just marginally faster than REV. A but there still lies the fact that ATT is Barely getting it up and running and the fact that the coverage for it is so small. Also, Sprint will be launching WIMAX in Q3 which will “run circles” around HSPA.
The iPhone 3G from what’s been posted about features on other forums and sites, doesn’t have anything much different from the 1st gen iPhone. It still doesn’t have basic features like MMS, video recording which is found on cheaper clamshell phones, video recording and not even voice dialing. It also didn’t improve on having more bluetooth profiles so no stereo bluetooth headphones for us with iPhone still. And you still don’t have the option to type in landscape and still no full flash support for Safari but that doesn’t really matter because there’s still the iPhone SDK that should take care of that soon after release.
I’m a tech nut and I like to know about and have all new things when they come out. As far as apps being available for the Instinct, there’s also open SDK for that phone as well so the possibilities are limitless with that phone as well, within the capabilities of phones of this caliber.
It’s always good to hear the opinion of someone else but when you’re a writer that has thousands of people reading your article, you should try and hide your bias a little better. I know you say that you can’t be biased since this site started as sprintpcsinfo.com so many years ago but it’s very clear where your heart lies.
I don’t in my personal opinion feel that this phone is an iPhone wannabe for the simple fact that these are really two different phones geared at two different types of people. The iPhone is more for people who just want a touch screen phone that they can talk, text and browse on and with the 3G, keeps up on client based emails, and office docs, and the Instinct is geared more for those who like the multimedia, the turn by turn GPS Navigation, the on demand and voice features and so on.
I don’t think this phone is going to fail at all. Hell, it’s already sold out here in San Diego. As far as sales beating that of the iPhone 3G? With Apple’s marketing and consumers loyalty to brand names and the fact that people buy just for the brand name without researching a product, it won’t compete but it’s still an amazing phone with tons of features with more to come with an open SDK. It’s sad to see that the fanboyism even spreads to major articles like these where an unbiased opinion matters.
I say to all the Apple fans, go try the Instinct for yourself and the Apple nay-sayers go and try the iPhone 3G when it comes out and see for yourself and leave the biased opinions to the people that are brand loyal.
OJ, where did I say that Instinct was going to fail? A few commenters have the wrong impression that I think Instinct is a bad device, and that it will fail against iPhone.
I simply said that the device needs to be priced differently than iPhone, and guess what? Sprint cut the price right before launch.
Oh, I never said that YOU said that it was going to fail but other’s that are avid Apple fans that have posted on here seem to think so. They also think that your statement about plan pricing, data and features seem to be spot on when none of them had even seen the phone let alone the pricing plans because the new plans weren’t even out when you posted this editorial. Which I might also add, there’s nothing complicated at all about have either three choices from the everything plans or two choices from the family data share. This is also the same thing that people were complaining about when they iPhone came out. “I have to change my plan to add data?” It’s like people wanna get these high end phones just because it’s the coolest thing out and don’t wanna get the plans that’ll support it and all of its features. But it’s gonna be the same way with Apple nay-sayers come July 11 when the iPhone 3G comes out. But, there are a lot of things that you said in your editorial that just didn’t add up and showed bias towards the iPhone which I’ve seen on a few sites but there are many others that did really good reviews on the Instinct and not because they didn’t point out its faults because oh man, did they point em out, but they also pointed out its selling features along with good comparisons of its features to those of the iPhone. I’ll be glad when you guys are able to get your hands on an Instinct and conduct your own review/comparison though.
………Do you have any clue how many facts you got wrong in there? This is why we hate it when apple fan boys write articles. I have both and use my Instinct a lot more than my iPhone. I bought the iPhone first but decided it was useless and bought the Instinct after wards. Now I use the iPhone to play games. I believe people are entitled to their opinions but…. Goddamn you should like look on WIKIPEDIA or something before blabbing off.