What Do You Think About Sprint's "BIG" Industry First Announcement?

[viber]

Broken by WSJ does not count as press issued by Sprint. They break stuff all the time, especially when it comes to Apple. Apples to oranges comparison there.

I hate to break it to you, but the masses don't get their info on this site. Sprint's presser attracted CNN, WSJ and Bloomberg, which I tend to think was the intent all along. No company is shouting from the rooftops just for phandroid forum.

I know plenty of geeks are wailing "7his ph0ne 1s 7he Suxorz", but I can see a big fat demographic that will hop all over dual screens and not give two craps about GPU, CPU or gingerbread.

 

[IOWA]

I hate to break it to you, but the masses don't get their info on this site. Sprint's presser attracted CNN, WSJ and Bloomberg, which I tend to think was the intent all along. No company is shouting from the rooftops just for phandroid forum.

I know plenty of geeks are wailing "7his ph0ne 1s 7he Suxorz", but I can see a big fat demographic that will hop all over dual screens and not give two craps about GPU, CPU or gingerbread.

Sadly, I can see this gimmick going well with pre-teens as well.

 

[eieio]

Man it would be comical if this thing turned in to a hit for Sprint

 

[viber]

Man it would be comical if this thing turned in to a hit for Sprint

I don't think it will be a hit or failure. Mid-range phone, mid-range seller, and certainly not any testament of Sprint's future or what Sprint has in store to replace the Evo, or what Samsung plans for the Epic2

 

[carmendiva]

Man it would be comical if this thing turned in to a hit for Sprint

Lol i think it will do well

 

[BlackDynamite]

Again, it can't be considered mid range if it's the most expensive phone in Sprint's lineup.

 

[viber]

Again, it can't be considered mid range if it's the most expensive phone in Sprint's lineup.

I guess the HTC HERO is a midrange phone since it is the same price as the Evo Shift...right? That is the logic you are using right?

 

[BlackDynamite]

I guess the HTC HERO is a midrange phone since it is the same price as the Evo Shift...right? That is the logic you are using right?

The Hero and the Shift are both cheaper than the Evo and Epic. The Echo is not cheaper than any phone in Sprint's lineup.

If a consumer goes into a Sprint store and is shown the most expensive phone in Sprint's lineup, he is not going to expect it to be a mid range phone. You pay top dollar for a device, it should be a high end device. That's the logic I'm using.

And even in your flawed analogy, how well is the Hero selling these days? Even though it is actually cheaper than the Evo and the Epic, is it selling well? Now just imagine if it wasn't any cheaper than the Evo or Epic. Would it be selling well then? Of course not.

 

[Rigmaster]

The phone won't be a hit. Who's going to want to say, "Take a look at my flip Kyocera" in bunches? If it makes it to free with contract, a handful will sell.

 

[carmendiva]

The phone won't be a hit. Who's going to want to say, "Take a look at my flip Kyocera" in bunches? If it makes it to free with contract, a handful will sell.

Will it be a massive hit like the evo? Prob not

But i see good things happening with it...i just hope sprint will consider lowering it's price.

And speaking of hero, they need to retire that phone. It came out Early fall 2009 right? October 2009...i remember it came out right before the Droid & Droid Eris(it's Verizon counterpart)

The fact they are STILL trying to sell a year and a half old phone at a mid-range price is laughable even more so then the echo

The way i see it

High End Phones
1)Evo & Epic--Until their successors come out, these should be the top 2 phones...either slab or slab with keyboard

Mid range phones at 99.99-149.99
1)Evo shift 4g, Samsung Transform and Kyocero Echo

Customers have the choice of two keyboard phones and i think the transform has a webcam on it...or something different like the Echo

Entry level Free-50 bucks
1)Hero(if they must still sell it) & Intercept

I do think given it's 2 year old processor and other outdated specs, that the price is a little too much for it....
But then again before i knew anything about phones, i used to go for what looked cool and it does look cool so maybe ppl will buy it based on that

 

[Rigmaster]

The Echo will lag because of Kyocera. The maker simply won't do enough to ensure it sticks. Apps, UI tweaks, etc. are things that are needed for this phone to blossom, and I just don't think that's this company's strong suit.

As to Sprint's overall lineup, there's probably no reason to ever have more than 5 phones in any customer segment, but that will depend on the phone makers. It just seems to me that Sprint has fewer phones now because Sprint's not doing the subsidy thing so heavily right now. The cash isn't there. I'd guess Kyocera is being intro'd because that maker isn't demanding huge upfront subsidy money. Maybe some, but not huge.

There will be a few new phones to replace some of the low enders, but a lot of the phone makers will tap the VZW and ATT low-end base before opening up to Sprint.

Bottomline - Sprint has fewer phones because it's not paying to bring them to market. This is a case of consumers feeling the pinch when the subsidy model isn't applied at the level we've come to expect.

 

[IOWA]

Will it be a massive hit like the evo? Prob not

But i see good things happening with it...i just hope sprint will consider lowering it's price.

And speaking of hero, they need to retire that phone. It came out Early fall 2009 right? October 2009...i remember it came out right before the Droid & Droid Eris(it's Verizon counterpart)

The fact they are STILL trying to sell a year and a half old phone at a mid-range price is laughable even more so then the echo

The way i see it

High End Phones
1)Evo & Epic--Until their successors come out, these should be the top 2 phones...either slab or slab with keyboard

Mid range phones at 99.99-149.99
1)Evo shift 4g, Samsung Transform and Kyocero Echo

Customers have the choice of two keyboard phones and i think the transform has a webcam on it...or something different like the Echo

Entry level Free-50 bucks
1)Hero(if they must still sell it) & Intercept

I do think given it's 2 year old processor and other outdated specs, that the price is a little too much for it....
But then again before i knew anything about phones, i used to go for what looked cool and it does look cool so maybe ppl will buy it based on that

The evo.shift is not a midrange phone. It outspecs every phone on sprint's lineup

 

[BlackDynamite]

Will it be a massive hit like the evo? Prob not

But i see good things happening with it...i just hope sprint will consider lowering it's price.

And speaking of hero, they need to retire that phone. It came out Early fall 2009 right? October 2009...i remember it came out right before the Droid & Droid Eris(it's Verizon counterpart)

The fact they are STILL trying to sell a year and a half old phone at a mid-range price is laughable even more so then the echo

The way i see it

High End Phones
1)Evo & Epic--Until their successors come out, these should be the top 2 phones...either slab or slab with keyboard

Mid range phones at 99.99-149.99
1)Evo shift 4g, Samsung Transform and Kyocero Echo

Customers have the choice of two keyboard phones and i think the transform has a webcam on it...or something different like the Echo

Entry level Free-50 bucks
1)Hero(if they must still sell it) & Intercept

I do think given it's 2 year old processor and other outdated specs, that the price is a little too much for it....
But then again before i knew anything about phones, i used to go for what looked cool and it does look cool so maybe ppl will buy it based on that

I agree with pretty much everything you said here.

I doubt they'll be selling the Hero for much longer though.

And as long as the Echo costs the most, it will be in that high end group (as far as the general public is concerned).

 

[carmendiva]

lmao, i found something even more laughable at the fact that t-mobile is still selling behold 2(given the fact it is one of the few phones around still currently on 1.5/1.6 if im not mistaken)

I may consider the Kyocera Echo as a device....Provided
1)Multi-tasking for WP7 isn't released by the time May comes or some hot Wp7 hardware is announced
2)I see more videos of it and reviews!

I am just ready for them to release it just so I can see how the Android fanatics will react to it's success or failure as well as I am very curious to see the work of the talented developers and see what kind of things they come up with for the phone!

 

[Hizorse]

I just want this thing to come out and see how well it does. I think it will be real popular with younger people.

 

[tqlla]

I just want this thing to come out and see how well it does. I think it will be real popular with younger people.

I dont think it will be popular... but I have been wrong before.

I really think that the brand(Kyocera) and the size of each screen will hurt it. The low hardware specs, wont help it either(3G, Single Core.... etc)

 

[Hizorse]

I dont think it will be popular... but I have been wrong before.

I really think that the brand(Kyocera) and the size of each screen will hurt it. The low hardware specs, wont help it either(3G, Single Core.... etc)

That is why I said popular with younger people, they want "cool" things, not top of the line hardware they can't see.

 

[BlackDynamite]

That is why I said popular with younger people, they want "cool" things, not top of the line hardware they can't see.

As the father of 2 teenagers, I can honestly say this is bull.

Yes, they want cool things. But cool things are the best things these days.

My kids' friends all have iPhones, Evos, Blackberry, MyTouch, and Droid X. Long gone are the days when teenagers are happy with a dumbphone.

When the iPhone 4 came out, every teenager was talking about its front camera and video chat. When the Evo came out, teenagers were talking about its front camera and video chat without needing WiFi. Same thing with the MyTouch 4G.

When this Kyocera comes out, nobody will be talking about it.

The 2 screens might get it some attention initially. But when they see it doesn't have 4G and doesn't have a front camera (and yes, teenagers know and care about these things) it will be a turn off. And when they find out it takes special apps to run correctly, it will be another turn off. And when they find out the CPU isn't any better than the Evo, Epic, or Shift, and significantly worse than the next gen hardware on other carriers, it will be even worse.

And teenagers absolutely care about the "my phone is better than your phone because..."

 

[Rigmaster]

I think most youngsters will laugh at this. Seriously flawed on many levels. And if it does take additional development, developers aren't going to do it for a device that isn't bleeding-edge. Those developers are focused on tablets.

 

[carmendiva]

lol being a father of 2 teens vs being a teenager myself(18) are two different things...LMAO, my mom is 33 and i can't tell you how many times she has thought something was cool for me just because she is a mother of 5 teens lol...U can't speak for the entire teen population(Not saying u were but that is how it sounded)

Even some of my friends are quite content with feature phones. One of my friends doesn't even text....I have to call her and the echo is not a dumbphone....it's not in the league of the Evo, Epic, or even the shift but let's not over exaggerate it.

Idk to many teens who care about CPU, snapdragon, Orion, hummingbird, apple chips etc etc dual core, quad core or whatever....Idk even know many adults aside tech geeks who care about that.

I doubt many will care about 4g especially since parents will have to buy the phones and pay the bill...especially when 4g on Sprint used to cost 10 dollars extra(now it's mandatory regardless, i think)

If anything, blackberries are very popular with my age group...Now that i do not understand lol
Like i said, you can't speak for the entire teen population...because most of your "points" don't apply to teens...they apply to overexcited fanboys

 

[BlackDynamite]

lol being a father of 2 teens vs being a teenager myself(18) are two different things...LMAO, my mom is 33 and i can't tell you how many times she has thought something was cool for me just because she is a mother of 5 teens lol...U can't speak for the entire teen population(Not saying u were but that is how it sounded)

Even some of my friends are quite content with feature phones. One of my friends doesn't even text....I have to call her and the echo is not a dumbphone....it's not in the league of the Evo, Epic, or even the shift but let's not over exaggerate it.

Idk to many teens who care about CPU, snapdragon, Orion, hummingbird, apple chips etc etc dual core, quad core or whatever....Idk even know many adults aside tech geeks who care about that.

I doubt many will care about 4g especially since parents will have to buy the phones and pay the bill...especially when 4g on Sprint used to cost 10 dollars extra(now it's mandatory regardless, i think)

If anything, blackberries are very popular with my age group...Now that i do not understand lol
Like i said, you can't speak for the entire teen population...because most of your "points" don't apply to teens...they apply to overexcited fanboys

So are you saying that when apple is flooding the airwaves with commercials about the iPhone 5 and its 4G, video chatting without WiFi, etc, and T-Mobile is doing the same thing with the Galaxy S 2, and AT&T is doing the same thing with the Atrix, and Sprint has been doing it with the Evo for months now... You think a teen is going to look at this Echo and choose it anyway? And the parent who is paying for it will be happy with that even though it costs just as much (or more) than any of those other phones that have those things?

I doubt it. I know at least my own kids wouldn't be that stupid, and neither would any of their friends. You said you wouldn't either. Come to think of it, there have been a few teens who posted in here that this phone isn't for them.

In fact, the only people saying this phone has any chance of success seem to be people saying "it's not for me but maybe someone else will want it." Or, "stupid people who don't know any better will buy anything you put in front of them so this phone will sell well." I haven't seen anyone, from any age group, say they plan on getting this phone.

Don't get me wrong, there was a time when my kids had sidekicks and all they (and their friends) cared about was a keyboard and basic web browser on a phone. But teens nowadays have been watching all the iPhone, Evo, Droid, MyTouch, etc commercials and they want a lot more.

Saying a teen will accept any phone you put in front of them is like saying they will want any old pair of pants, or any old hat, or any old cologne, or any old watch, etc. They have their tastes and this phone probably has no chance to be a hit among them. If it was cheap then it probably would at least be a hit among the parents who pay for it. But if it costs as much as the phones that have 4G, front cameras, etc, then it better have those features too.

 

[CarrieK]

I've got news...if I'm paying for the phone my teenage son will accept what he gets or he won't have one.

 

[BlackDynamite]

I've got news...if I'm paying for the phone my teenage son will accept what he gets or he won't have one.

Exactly. Now if you're paying for it, are you going to get one that has 4G and video chat, or pay the same price (or even more) for one that doesn't have any of that?

After all, your own video chat is worthless if you don't have anyone to video chat with.

 

[CarrieK]

Exactly. Now if you're paying for it, are you going to get one that has 4G and video chat, or pay the same price (or even more) for one that doesn't have any of that?

After all, your own video chat is worthless if you don't have anyone to video chat with.

I'd get the best phone for the best price. The thing is, if I'm paying for it he isn't getting a top of the line phone, and he certainly won't get a phone that is better than mine

 

[Dr Android]

Is this a 4G phone?