Well, well…if there was any doubt that the iPhone 5 was coming out in the late September / early October time frame, that’s about to be put to bed thanks to a report that emerged from no less than the Wall Street Journal. And the date is only secondary to the reports of just who else will be selling the iPhone: Sprint Nextel.
The Wall Street Journal, in talking to a set of the ever-popular “anonymous sources”, said that the iPhone 5 will be getting the full treatment out at Sprint Nextel, and that they would start selling the phones in mid-October. This is important for two major reasons: one, it’s the closest thing to a confirmed launch date we’ve heard yet and falls right in with a variety of earlier projections pegging pre-orders for late September with delivery dates for early October, and two, Sprint Nextel has yet to actually offer up an iPhone, which will put them on at least something like equal footing with its primary two competitors, AT&T and Verizon.
What’s particularly interesting here, though, is that Sprint is, at last report, the only provider still offering an unlimited data plan. Now, when you stop and consider that the iPhone 5 will be pretty much the same across providers, but only Sprint will be offering an unlimited data plan, that’s going to shake up the market quite a bit and probably send a good chunk of business Sprint’s way. Am I saying there’s a destabilization in the market coming, maybe a new second place? Not necessarily, but at the very least, Sprint will likely gain on its competitors and narrow the gap between second and third.
What’s more, Sprint will even have a backup plan to deal with the inevitable disappointed customers, as they’ll also reportedly be selling the iPhone 4 as well as the iPhone 5.
Good for all concerned, I’d say, as long as they can keep the total number of iPhone 5 models in the system up. But what do you guys think? For those of you planning to buy an iPhone 5, will you buy from Sprint? Or would you sooner stick to one of Sprint’s competitors? Whatever your plan, hit the comments section and tell us about it!
