T-Mobile blames lack of iPhone for poor US sales
Among the four national mobile phone carriers in the United States, T-Mobile is clearly the laggard in terms of subscriber numbers. This comes despite low prices and highly-regarded customer service. Rene Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile USA's parent company, lays the blame squarely on the lack of an iPhone to sell. The U.S. remains one of the few major markets with a single iPhone carrier, and T-Mobile isn't it. In the third quarter of this year, T-Mobile USA gained just 137,000 new customers. Most of those went for prepaid service rather than the smartphones.
T-Mobile has no shortage of good smartphones with a wide array Android devices available. Despite this, growth for the carrier has been slow to non-existent while Verizon has had tremendous success with Android phones. Of course, AT&T has the iPhone.
It's probable that T-Mobile would see an influx of new business if it had the Apple superphone to sell, but the real problem with T-Mobile isn't selection, it's the network. T-Mobile has made strides with its HSPA+ rollout, but it still has too many voice dead zones, making it an even worse choice than AT&T for many users. Perhaps Mr. Oberman should invest more in solidifying his company's voice coverage and less time complaining about what it doesn't have.
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Among the four national mobile phone carriers in the United States, T-Mobile is clearly the laggard in terms of subscriber numbers. This...
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T-Mobile's rates are so cheap because their service is pretty much limited to urban locations. That's the service they offer: the newest and best phones, in urban locations, for the cheapest rates. One of those legs they've stood on for years is now missing.
Saying the reason their growth is slowing in recent years is because of the reception is like saying sales in family sedans has slumped because they don't go fast enough.
Don't miss the straw man here. I suspect he's saying this so that investors will forgive the stagnation and then be ecstatic when the iPhone becomes available on T-Mo in Q1 or Q2.
November 05 2010 at 1:59 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyBlame it on Mr. Obermann himself for not being sufficiently persistent in bringing the iPhone to the states, especially when they carry the iPhone in their homeland Germany (http://www.t-mobile.de/) and the UK (http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/iphone/). NO EXCUSES--YOUR ORGANIZATION DROPPED THE BALL STATESIDE.
November 05 2010 at 1:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply"T-Mobile blames lack of iPhone for poor US sales"
Oh... Plus, our service sucks.
People who drink the corporate cool-aid often times see the symptoms and are entirely clueless about the cause.
2 + 2 != 17
T-Mobile's problem is - i agree with the author - simply bad voice coverage --- along with Sprint. Both of these carriers are loosing business to AT&T and Verizon.
November 05 2010 at 11:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIf you live in the Houston area I find T-mobile to be the best carrier. They have the best prices (on non-contract their cheaper), speeds and I get free tethering on my Nexus One. That means I can Facetime with my iPod over 3G or 4G by tethering it. I think that Apple should put the iPhone on T-mobile.
November 05 2010 at 11:51 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe article is misleading and seems to presume certain facts about T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T. If you look at ComScore's last market share report, from December 2009 through March 2010, AT&T gained 0.2%, and T-Mobile lost 0.1% (as did all other ranked carriers other than AT&T and Tracfone). So you could argue "growth for the carrier has been slow to non-existent" goes for Verizon too, which also lost 0.1% in that period.
November 05 2010 at 11:51 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAnyone see this yet?
http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/05/why-is-t-mobile-selling-an-iphone-cable/
Well, their coverage might be spotty in other areas, but if you're in Northern Utah, it's the best. I can travel almost anywhere and still have great coverage. I'm using an unlocked iPhone 3GS, so I can't test anything above EDGE speeds, but I have absolutely no complaints about their network, it's their phones that suck!
November 05 2010 at 11:40 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyi have to agree with this.
their coverage in rural areas is shameful, but in the large cities where it counts for 90% of all Americans, their service is quite a bit faster and more reliable than the others. i have an iPhone on both AT&T and T-Mobile and can attest to the fact that where my AT&T one cannot seem to receive or send a simple voice call, my T-MO one works just fine.
but where everyone is quick to complain about their voice coverage, the fact is that most smartphone users arent using their device for voice as much as they use them for data. the voice argument is pretty irrelevant.
the issue truly at hand is where you pointed out: their phone selection is "good" and they have no GREAT phones. they also have no data devices to take advantage of this speedy network of theirs that people actually care about. they need to offer a device like the MiFi so users can actually take advantage of their speedy network... i have complained repeatedly for the past year for them to carry something relevant to use their network, and all we have gotten in return is their Rocket modem and two phones... of which both have tethering locked out.
it's not about voice coverage or coverage in general... it's about access, and so far, they have no devices to access their network efficiently, at any cost.
This is the first time I've read the iPhone described as a "superphone." I like it. All the other manufacturers have their own idea of what "smartphones" are; some of them hardly compare to the iPhone. Superphone sets it apart nicely.
I've been using an iPhone 2G on T-Mobile for a while, and I love it, though I have to use wifi only, since I'm grandfathered into a sweet voice plan without data, and I don't want to change it. Coverage is great, and their customer service is, too. Best cell experience yet, and I'm not going anywhere; I can live with wifi, so as long as Apple continues to make GSM phones, I'm good.
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