The Wall Street Journal reported today that the next major carrier to sell the iPhone 5 will be Sprint. According to the report, Sprint will start carrying the iPhone 5 beginning in October.
Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the iPhone 5 in mid-October, people familiar with the matter said, closing a huge hole in the No. 3 U.S. carrier’s lineup and giving Apple Inc. another channel for selling its popular phone.
The timing, however, indicates Apple’s new iPhone will hit the market later than expected and too late to contribute to sales in the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, which ends in September. Most observers had expected the device to arrive next month.
There have been many rumors surrounding the next iPhone, especially in regards to release date. The newest iPhone has gone back and forth from September to October, with the release looking to be closer to October now. It is still also not certain if Apple will hold it’s media event in September, or when the iPhone 5 could be announced. All we really know at this point is that the new iPhone will come equipped with Apple’s newest version of iOS, iOS 5.
With the next generation iPhone possibly sporting a new chip allowing it to get both GSM and CDMA frequencies, this would allow for one phone to be made for both AT&T, Verizon and now Sprint. There was also rumor that the iPhone would be coming to T-Mobile later this year as well. However, with AT&T working to acquire T-Mobile, it is very possible T-Mobile customers could be seeing an iPhone as early as next year.
The Sprint iPhone was first rumored back in mid 2010 and analysts’ began to confirm those rumors earlier this year. This move with Sprint will add the 3rd largest mobile carrier in the U.S. to it’s arsenal and would give them even more market share that they deserve.
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