Sprint Nextel losing market share
Sprint Nextel released their quarterly numbers yesterday, posting losses, customer retention, share value, and average income-per-subscriber information. Sprint lost 220,000 customers a month during the first 3 months of the year, resulting in an average churn of over 2.3%. The overall effect was a loss of $211 million dollars during the first quarter, one that has analysts speculating with concern about the future of a shrinking company in an ever-expanding market. Sprint claimed 53.6 million customers to Verizon’s 60.7 million and AT&T’s 62.2 million. They said that the revenue and subscriber loss was due to the fact that it had poured resources into network upgrades and the latest handsets. I’m not sure if we can buy that one! On a positive note, the company posted a significant amount of revenue from data plans and add-ons, indicating an increase of 44 percent from the year before. If Sprint really wants to up their numbers, perhaps they could light a fire and get moving on their WiMax network!
[Via NYTimes]
I am not shocked at these numbers….I think it will get worse before it gets better. I might be the next one out the door.
I never understood sprint ever since I got with them, they have the worst and ugliest phone selection then any other carrier. Mean while At&t, T-Mo, and VZW get all these great phones at a non-stop rate, while Sprint stays with the same phones all year round why would anybody want to stay with a damn Sanyo phone?? They need to replace that CEO with a younger one(it worked for Motorola). Am probably going to be right behind JJLO, out the door.
I do not have a problem with the Sanyo phones…actually they have been solid for me. I have a problem with nothing else but Sanyo and Samsung which I am not a real fan of. The customer service has just gotten so bad. I have stayed because I get the best deal from Sprint. The Sprint-Nextel merger in my opinion has been the source of the issue I think.
I went through that same door a few years ago!!
Wonder if T-Mobile lost customers this quarter as well – with their contract change that allowed many to leave.
Sanyo does not have hi-end phones, it’s ugly IMO. Also Sprint does not have good phone selection, T-Mobile had the same problem before but its phone selection is getting better. I agree Sprint’s customer service is so bad, horrible. I still have T-mobile and I called them yesterday to cancel one phone line. I have to admit that T-Mobile customer service is so good. No wonder they won JD Power few years in a roll. The only thing to keep me with Sprint is a good plan I have. I am so tempted to leave.
You hit the nail on the head. My plan way better than anything I get with the other carriers. It is getting harder to justify that now.
Yea my plan on sprint is wonderful, Blackberry unlimited plan for $39.99 (VZW Unlimited to them is 5GB? so am lucky on that), free incoming, unlimited text for $5.00 (Who else is offering unlimited text for 5 bucks? If you have a Blackberry data plan I can tell you how to get this), Thats whats keeping my on sprint and plus WiMaxx, but those phones on the other carriers look so tempting.
I use to own a Nextel/Sprint authorized dealership in Arizona and closed it, do to no business 5 months after the Sprint buyout of Nextel. I have hate toward Sprint, lol. Any I think T-Mobile is doing fine, as I have a dealership with them know and have seen constant growth since opening.
I like my Sprint plan but the service is crap. I hardly ever get calls I always receive random voicemails saying why didn’t you answer and stuff. I’m excited for the release of the BlackBerry Curve, it is enough to make me run away. I don’t like T-Mobiles current plans though. . . Maybe the MyFavs is what I will end up with. . . Given the Curve is capable.
I agree that Sprint is really starting to suck. You get what you pay for , I am to the point of paying my own way to ATT.
i read your post about the sprint blackberry plan. however i bought a damn nextel 7100i from ebay, as an updgrade from my simple flip phone. So now i can make and recieve calls but nothing else, net even my own voice mail. You talked about a killer sprint plan, do you know of anything like this for nextel?
any help, towards the whole subject would be helpful
Thanks
Mark Dobbs
Nextel is not the same as Sprint, as a matter of fact Nextel is the most expensive carrier I believe. Good Luck Mark
Meh… so not a fan of sprint, their phoes really do suck, call quality has been nice though, I just wish they’d have a good txt msging phone that is not fa PDA first and then a phone (like a sidekick or the ocean, anything…) only thing keeping me on there is that most of my family uses sprint =p
I can’t wait to finish out my contract, because sprint/nextel has THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE ever! Of course, even after my contract is over, I HAVE to pay for an entire month’s billing because they won’t prorate the bill for me…the new billing period ends May 5, and my contract is over May 10, BUT I have to pay all the way through July 5!! Just one more reason to leave!!
When I saw this story, I just had to comment on it. I am one of the many children leaving the dysfunctional household of the Sprint-Nextel marriage. I got HORRIBLE Nextel coverage, and when I tried to fix the tech problems, they had such terrible customer service that my problem never got fixed. I finally contacted the FCC to terminate my cell contract without the $200 fee (Sprint basically crapped their pants when the FCC got involved). Now out of contract, I’m happily shopping for another carrier. Any suggestions?
tramadol
I had really good service with nextel, before the merger. Then suddenly the NO SERVICE started to creep onto my phone screen, at/in places I never had any problems. I have called and complained. The CSR’s want to put a complaint ticket in. Not much else can be done I guess. One note: I told the CSR that I actually had better service on an older style nextel, then my current near top of the line phone. I need the direct connect for my business, otherwise I’d probably switch.
I think the real reason or a big part of it for the jumping ship and the $666,000,000 loss is because of customer support (after the sale). I am actually on hold as we speak, I was placed on hold waiting for a supervisor and I think they are of the mindset that if they don’t pick up again I will hang up.
All I’m doing is just trying to change a shipping address.
They are absolute morons.
How do I use the FCC to help me, I’ve been trying to get something to happen there for over 6 months at least one call a week.