Sprint Nextel Corp announced its second-quarter results today, and the brightest spot on the third-largest U.S. cellular provider’s quarterly report emanated from the EVO. Thanks to the smart phone built by HTC, the company posted fewer contract losses than expected–and, analysts and the company say, that means Sprint could seriously take on the AT&T/iPhone juggernaut.
“The supply issues on the (currently sold-out) EVO are a big deal because it could have a significant impact on mitigating the iPhone impact,” if it were more plentiful, Chief Executive Dan Hesse said in a press conference call, reports Reuters.
“The introduction of the 4G EVO handset has been a nice catalyst,” Wells Fargo & Co. analyst Jennifer Fritzsche told the International Business Times. “Sprint has continued to capture significant share from T- Mobile and hold its own versus Verizon and AT&T.”
According to Barron’s, Sprint’s revenue of $8 billion was in line with Wall Street analysts’ estimates, while an adjusted loss of 15 cents a share was smaller than the Street consensus estimate of a loss of 20 cents. The number of its contract subscribers fell by 228,000, which was fewer than the loss of 355,000 post-paid subscribers expected by analysts, making for a total of 48.2 million Sprint subscribers at the end of the June quarter.
Of course, one could argue that with such low expectations for the third-rated Sprint, there was barely anywhere to go but up. But one handset having such a positive effect shows that consumers are eager to join the cellular provider that offers what they consider the best smart phone.
