Sprint’s troubles seem to have little end in sight. So far in 2014, they’ve had to cut hundreds of jobs and shut down scores of stores. And that’s just the beginning.
Back on Friday, during a regulatory meeting, Sprint announced more job cuts from their already battered Kansas City headquarters. Back in March 2014, they had to shut down 55 stores nationwide and cut 330 jobs. Now more are coming. Management positions aren’t immune, as some top positions are expected to be cut. By October 31, this batch of job losses will likely cost this smartphone conglomerate over $160 million this fiscal quarter alone. And it looks like the Sprint consumer may be paying for the balance. Sprint warned additional charges may be needed to make up the difference, although nothing specific has been released to the public. Intense and aggressive ad campaigns are doing little to help. If anything, it’s inspiring? competitors. Sprint is #3 in the wireless carrier market. T-Mobile, #4, is bent on taking their #3 spot. The top two, AT&T and Verizon, have countered Sprint’s campaign with their own aggressive, but very popular, ad campaigns.
How did Sprint get in this mess? It started with a tacky, mediocre overhaul that a 5th grader could have put together. That lead to gaps in coverage, which led to confusion for a lot of Sprint consumers. That led to a mass exodus of customers dumping Sprint, probably in favor of T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. So when the customers go, revenue goes. And when revenue goes, jobs go. And now they want to take it out on their remaining customers by even suggesting the bill might be passed on to them? This is what I call company suicide. I know the lostmoney has to be made, but not this way. Hold on to what consumers you have left. How bad will it be when more customers walk out because they’re being forced to pay for Sprint’s troubles?
Remember when Google tried to get the What’s App? Facebook beat them to it. Google didn’t quit, but instead, is working ceaselessly to come up with their own What’s App.
Google plans to launch a mobile message app. They’re getting ready to test it in India. They’ve already sent a Google product manager to India to check out the message app conditions of that developing nation. Some sources say the Google message app will be ready for the public sometime in 2015. I can’t find the future name for this app; they may not even have one yet. Google product manager Nikhhyl Singhal is being sent to Pacific Asian nations to study ecosystems and the mobile scene there. This message app is expected to be free and won’t even require a Google password.? Google offered What’s App $10 billion, but Facebook got What’s App by ponying up nearly twice as much. That’s how Google got here.
Some may be asking, “Why is Google testing India’s ecosystem for a potential message app?” If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. India has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and that includes the technology realm. By the end of this decade, India should have the second biggest smartphone market in the world (China will have the biggest). You’re going to need a strong smartphone market if you want a strong app market. There are around 600 million What’s App users globally, over 10% are in India.? The message app market is growing altogether. At least a dozen message app has tens of millions of regular users. We Chat has well over 400 million monthly users. But most things Google touches has turned to gold. So I think their message app will do well. But me being a fan of small business, I’m concerned people will dump the small message app sites and flock to Google as soon as the release date is here. Would you use a Google message App?
I came across an interesting interview with Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt. He believes the competition between Apple and Google is more intense than ever before, especially when it comes to the smartphone race. Apple has iOS and Google has Android Nexus. In Mr. Schmidt’s own words, “In fact I believe that this brutal competition between Apple and Google over Android and iOS has enormous benefits for consumers worldwide.” This competition has gone on for years. When Schmidt passed an Apple store with lines around the block, he verbally rubbed it in Samsung’s face. Back in 2010, Schmidt met with the late Apple founder Steve Jobs. Jobs called out Android/Google, claiming they were intellectually copying Apple. Of course, Schmidt insisted Android was built on their own intellect. Did you know Eric Schmidt used to work for Apple, but stepped down in 2007?? Now he’s chairman executive for the rival company.
Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t some bloody hip-hop rivalry. Both companies truly respect each other. In fact, Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt were actually friends. And the Google exec is right, this fierce, but respectable competition has been Good for business. It’s kept us wondering what the next smartphone is going to be. It’s kept prices reasonable (well, pretending on who you ask). And I like hearing a little trash talking between the two mega conglomerates. Competition is good for any free market enterprise and any capitalist society, and Google and Apple prove it. What I’d like to see is even more competition within the smartphone market. That would be really good for us consumers. Whose winning the fight between Google and Apple?
The days of only the richest Americans owning a smartphone are long gone. In fact, you can get the Motorola Motor E for $130 with no contract. What does this mean for the industry?
It means a whole new era for no thrills smartphones. Phone supplier Ericsson says there were 1.9 billion smartphones subscribers by the end on 2013. By 2019, that number is expected to almost triple. Much of this is fueled by growing smartphone demand in developing and underdeveloped nations. Some of these places have no cable TV, or even electricity, so the smartphone may be their only way of modern day communication. And companies seem eager to provide. There’s Motorola Motor E, and there’s Alcatel. It has 4G, 13 megapixel camera, quad core processor, and runs Android 4.2. The Alcatel will run you as little as $80.
So you may not get the excellent features smartphone snobs demand. But this isn’t for the smartphone snob. These are for those who have always wanted a handset, but either couldn’t afford one or were too intimidated by the difficult technology…until now. I’ve mentioned it’s popularity around the world. But the cheap smartphone has a popular following in the US too. Let’s face it, the economy isn’t exactly back to it’s normal self, and it may never be again. So for many Americans, the cheap smartphone may be their only option. Will the cheap smartphone outsell the fancy ones?
