Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) has already cracked the 1 million mark for Long Term Evolution (LTE) devices sold, even as the Network Vision operator only covers 17 markets with the 4G network.
Its current LTE device lineup include the smartphones and mobile broadband device pictured below. Importantly, however, the 1 million count does not include the iPhone 5, so Sprint achieved the milestone without Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s help.
Why this matters
Sprint, which plans to cover 100 markets with LTE by the end of the year, should be cheering this milestone. And its growth will only pick up when the iPhone 5 with unlimited data launches on Friday. It is, however, all relative when you consider that Verizon Wireless sold 2.5 million LTE Android smartphones in the second quarter alone. Sprint would probably prefer comparing itself to T-Mobile USA , which has sold zero LTE devices so far. (See Verizon CFO Is a Tease on iPhone Timing.)
I think most Sprint customers know they are buying a LTE phone with no LTE service in their area yet. Plus don't they charge an extra $10 per month for this anyway.
Be interesting to get the second count -- the total of Sprint LTE phones that have actually connected to the LTE network. Remember when WiMAX launched, Sprint sold a boatload of WiMAX phones in markets with no WiMAX service.
I would bet that a lot of people buying the LTE phones don't even know they are LTE capable. It's just the latest phone and why not buy it since LTE will probably get there before you need to upgrade.
And... after this next quarter those 1 million non-iPhone LTE numbers will be how meaningful? I think the over/under number from all vendors may be 10 million by year's end... anyone else with a prediction?
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