Sprint is hoping to attract developers by launching a new open platform for its Windows Mobile handsets such as the HTC Touch Pro, shown below, and Touch Diamond. But a shift in its marketing might be more important.
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The new platform lets developers use the same codes, tools and resources for mobile device applications as for computer desktop applications, and it also provides access toSprint ( News – Alert)-specific device features, Sprint says. Applications not branded by Sprint can be downloaded from mobile Internet.
The platform, called “Sprint Titan,” is built on mobile Java and is intended to support easier creation of desktop-like applications for smart phones, and therefore is seen as a way to further unify desktop and mobile software experiences.
That isn’t the only change going on at Sprint, though. As important as the open platform is for long-term success, the marketing shift is going to be more important near term. As AT&T and Verizon continue to take market share from Sprint Nextel, with AT&T touting coverage and Verizon (News – Alert) quality, what is Sprint’s message? For AT&T, it is “more bars, more places,” emphasizing signal coverage. For Verizon it is the quality of the network.
For Sprint, the new message seems to be “value,” as exemplified by its “Simply Everything” bundle, though the subtext might be “no surprises.”
But “value” isn’t the same thing as “budget,” a position generally staked out by the likes of Leap Wireless (News – Alert) and prepaid brands. Nor will Sprint be able to occupy an exclusively new marketing niche among the mobile “majors.” T-Mobile USA years ago staked out the “better price” position, though recently it has grown by emphasizing its appeal to a “hip” and younger demographic that some mobile virtual network operators had hoped to ride to success.
Of the four major mobile providers, Sprint can claim bragging rights as a provider of value for its full bundle of data services. For a customer who really wants access to every advanced feature, at one price,Sprint Nextel ( News – Alert) excels. The issue is whether Sprint wants to claim bragging rights for “value” in the broader middle of the market: users who mostly want talk, text and broadband Internet access, not necessarily every last video and audio feature.
On the operational front, Sprint finally seems to have turned the corner on its customer service issues. Chief Service Officer Bob Johnson of Sprint forecasts that calls to its call centers could decline by 20 percent in 2009 and that the company could close as many as 20 of its call centers next year, essentially reducing call center capacity by 50 percent.
The good news is that a massive upsurge in customer service complaints, now attributed to a new billing system introduction in late 2007, now seems under control. Now for the messaging exercise.