Will the Evo be available in non 4g markets at launch?

[rmmorse81]

Ive been hearing rumors and reading tidbits that suggest it may only be released in 4 g areas.

See below article as one example?

Sprint HTC EVO, First 4G Android Phone

How facepalm would Sprint be if they restricted its release? It is still the best 3g Android capable phone to date. I live in Los Angeles, which is supposed to get 4g this year. But I have to have this thing.

Im sure Im not alone in the army of pissed off people if Sprint only released to 4g areas at launch.

 

[talz13]

it darn well better be released here ON RELEASE DAY. Cleveland is on the list for 2010 wimax, but I DEFINITELY don't want to wait for that to happen before they'll let me get my new phone!

 

[rmmorse81]

it darn well better be released here ON RELEASE DAY. Cleveland is on the list for 2010 wimax, but I DEFINITELY don't want to wait for that to happen before they'll let me get my new phone!

Seriously man....

That would be horrible sales tactics...

 

[neodorian]

I seriously doubt that. They still sell any other smartphone even if you live in the boonies and have limited 3G coverage. You just buy the phone and make use of the fastest available network. While this is heavily geared toward making Wimax visible to the public there is no reason why it won't be excellent on EVDO. I have been using smart phones on EVDO for years and I get between 800kbps and 1.5mbps down so it's not exactly a slouch. This phone will just make better use of places where you can get 2mbps-8mbps on average. When you make devices and software that takes advantage of higher bandwidth, demand for said bandwidth will increase.

 

[evotitans]

I had another post in another thread, where we were trying to determine what could be a possible release date for the EVO.

Which had me thinking, would Sprint do an earlier release, in markets for 4G, for them to be early adopters? I would love for Sprint to release(Unadvertised) the EVO in say May to available markets....then do a full launch later on(Say June/July) for when the other 4G markets get activated(?).

Now of course, its a catch 22, because you have Markets right now that could use the EVO's 4G capabilities....while you have the rest of the country that cant.

But for those not in 4G markets yet....the EVO is still, IMO, spec wise the best phone coming soon, regardless of 4G or not.

Guess the ball really is in Sprint's court, they could...

1. Release the EVO early(April/May/June) to AVAILABLE 4G markets, and then do a full blown launch in June/July for ALL

2. Could wait til the other 4G markets are up(June/July), any indications of when these other markets will be live???

3. Release the EVO all at one time (June/July) to all markets, 4G markets get full capabilities...while the others still get the EVO, but not at 100% activity

But if I was running Sprint, I would just get the EVO out ASAP....AND Market the phone right.....The EVO is the phone everyone has been waiting for the one that actually "Turn heads", you commercialize it right, it would easily draw numbers of atleat the Droid.

 

[neodorian]

3 is what they will do.

 

[mi_canuck]

I read in an article (forget where though) that the EVO will indeed still be sold in non-4G markets... so no worries...

I'm getting one, I'm about 99% sure at this point... The Nexus is just having too many little nagging issues... screen res issue being the latest...


EDIT: gonna probably wait it out, and see if a GSM/HSPA version comes a few months after... i'm in no rush, i have good T-Mo service, cheap plan (60/mo), and with my Nexus rooted and running the Sense Desire ROM, i've got a renewed excitement about my Nexus again .... and being i'm not in a 4G city - ie. Detroit (at least not announced yet...) there's no huge rush, as I wouldn't be able to use it's strongest feature - ie. the 4G...

 

[billsmed]

I agree. It would be a big mistake to not release this phone everywhere. If you don't have 4G in your area, you will soon. The big cities are getting the primary focus right now, but eventually everyone will have it. Even those in rural areas where there isn't any broadband.

 

[evotitans]

I agree. It would be a big mistake to not release this phone everywhere. If you don't have 4G in your area, you will soon. The big cities are getting the primary focus right now, but eventually everyone will have it. Even those in rural areas where there isn't any broadband.

Its not so much the big cities, but its outlining areas too. Philly is a 4G area, but I was surprised to see how much the 4G network spreaded out to its surrounding areas.

In my case, 4G reached into area's in neighboring NJ, where I am usually around...so the thought of constantly being in a 4G area makes it a no-brainer for me to get an EVO.

 

[dylan88]

there is no logic in restricting the release. its bad business and sprint nor any carrier would ever do that. i dont think we need to worry about that.

 

[cary328is]

God I just hope they open all sales channels on release day. I do NOT want to wait in line for a phone ever again. I would rather click, click, click, submit order and go back to sleep.

 

[Caloy]

It would depend on the supply. If they have a lack of supply of the phone on release date, then I would bet they would prioritize the cities with 4G access. This serves 2 purpose, first the people who have 4G access will rave about 4G and will talk about it (free promotion thus creating more demand), second will be, by creating more demand they can hold the phone at a higher price for longer, thus giving Sprint a better profit margin for the same amount of phones sold. Again, this is not factual, just my opinion.

EDIT: I think for groundbreaking phones such as the Evo, the most amount of phones they will sell on a single day is the first day they were offered on the market.

 

[corrado7]

Use your brain and think business wise? why restrict the use. The phone can do 3g as well as 4g.

 

[Caloy]

Like I said, if you don't have the supply to meet the demand, you allocate what you have to the ones that will actually benefit with 4G. But if you have the supply then why not? So why can't you just have enough supply to meet the demand? That's called logistics. And that's anywhere from Manufacturing capabiltiy, shipping, storage, distribution. etc. If you calculate for more than you can actually sell in the long run, you spend more for all the facilities you allocated for the initial manufacturing.

It's like the playstation 3 when it came out, not everyone who wanted one can't get one, simply because there is not enough supply.

 

[Norril]

I am 1000% positive they won't favor 4g markets over 3g and from what I see in the Verizon/Incredible forums, there are a ton of folks ready to jump ship to the Evo. So far, nobody is really all that concerned with the 4g part either. Honestly, the 2 places where the 4g is going to help are when you use your phone to share WiFi to lots of people, or when you want to browse and talk at the same time.

I would be all over the Evo, even if I knew I would never get 4g. 4g is a pretty sweet bonus though and I am not complaining

 

[Caloy]

I hope so to Norril. I'm in a Non-4G city at the moment.

 

[Froghair]

When the Overdrive came out I was living in a 3g area and went to a Sprint store to get an Overdrive because I was going to travel to a 4g area (Seattle). They couldn't get me an Overdrive--only available in 4g markets!

So Sprint has already set a precedent. Having said that, I do think it would be a mistake not to sell the EVO everywhere on launch. After all, a lot of people will be traveling to 4g areas.

 

[LatinP]

Ive been hearing rumors and reading tidbits that suggest it may only be released in 4 g areas.

See below article as one example?

Sprint HTC EVO, First 4G Android Phone

How facepalm would Sprint be if they restricted its release? It is still the best 3g Android capable phone to date. I live in Los Angeles, which is supposed to get 4g this year. But I have to have this thing.

Im sure Im not alone in the army of pissed off people if Sprint only released to 4g areas at launch.

These blog articles make me lose all faith in humanity. What the hell was he thinking when he wrote that, even to a 10 year old that doesn't make sense. Why on earth would Sprint limit it's potential profits on a phone they've spent close to a billion dollars on in advertisements, development, infrastructure and production and then go and only release to 4G markets when the phone works perfectly fine on a 3G network?

Don't even give that article a second though, the guy has absolutely no idea what he's talking about.

 

[SprintFun]

Considering Sprint posted this on their twitter account, can we put this thread to rest?

@zachtib Yes, the EVO will be offered in non-4G markets.

Sprint (sprint) on Twitter

 

[neodorian]

It will be fine. Kinda like selling you a phone with Wifi even if there is no hotspot in your house. I believe there is a 4G widget like the Sense Wifi widget that lets you toggle the 4G radio off and on. This way you can keep it off if you are not in a 4G area or want to save power.

 

[Deleted User]

I hate to say it but i could see this happening for one reason. If the idea is to get a positive buzz out about the phone, Sprint may want to avoid "Down Home Donnie" that still has 2g service from getting on line and complaining about how SLOW the EVO is before people get a chance to try the phone for themselves. Just a thought. I'm not in a 4g market so this would not be good news for me!