Sprint PCS Vision Phones Trickle Into Stores
BY KRISTY BASSUENER
AUGUST 16, 2002
NEWS@2 DIRECT
Consumers excited to race to the nearest Sprint PCS store or retailer to buy one
of Sprint's new third-generation phones may have to wait a while for the exact
phone they want. Initial devices available for the PCS Vision service include the
Sanyo 4900, the new CDMA-enabled Handspring Treo and in some stores the
color-screen Samsung A500.
For example, the Sprint superstore in Culver City, Calif., says it only has the
Sanyo 4900 in stock, and expects other models to arrive ''probably next Monday
[Aug. 19],'' a sales rep tells Wireless Week. One store in suburban Denver also
has the Sanyo phone and its sales rep says it received only one of the high-end
A500 devices, which sold immediately. A Best Buy retail outlet says it is selling
the Sanyo and the Samsung A500. The PCS Vision service offers high-speed
mobile data services along with voice, using a CDMA2000 1x network.
Applications include business user options like corporate e-mail and
consumer-targeted options such as a snap-on camera.
Other PCS Vision-enabled phones expected to sell soon include the Samsung
N400, the LG 5650, the Hitachi P300 and a Pocket PC-handset combo by
Toshiba. The carrier in its initial announcement of the 3G service says many
of the handsets will be available ''over the next several weeks.''
''This is a rolling launch,'' points out Sprint PCS spokesman Dan Wilinsky. ''Our
shipments are coming fast and furious, and we have great confidence that the
phones are on their way.''
Wireless analyst Andrew Seybold, a proponent of Sprint's national 3G rollout,
says that the handsets are shipping one by one likely due to continued testing
and approval needs. ''Some of these phones may not have been fully approved
[by the FCC] yet or Sprint hasn't finished testing them,'' Seybold says, adding
that he received that information from an insider he didn't want to name.
Some of the PCS Vision phones showcased on the company's sprintpcs.com site
are visible with ''temporarily sold out'' tags. But at least one of the ''sold out''
phones hasn't even begun shipping yet, according to the manufacturer. For
example, the Samsung N400, which according to the site is sold out, won't begin
shipping until Sept. 1, according to Samsung spokeswoman Michelle Webb. The
LG 5650, also showing as ''sold out'' on the Sprint PCS Web site, likely will be on
store shelves in two weeks, an LG InfoComm spokeswoman says.
''Thank you for pointing out the phrasing on our Web site,'' Wilinsky says.
''We're going to be fixing that. It shouldn't say that. The intent on the Web site
is to preview phones that are coming soon.''
Previous Stories: |
