Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) continues to be bashed in the business media every other week it seems. The third-largest wireless company in the U.S. has shed hundreds of thousands of customers in the last 18 months as the larger competition has snagged customers with stellar sellers like Apple, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 3G and other high-end handsets.

Sprint announced 8,000 layoffs this week, adding to the massive employee headcount lost by major corporations in the last three months. With losses in four of the past five quarters, massive layoffs and a shrinking customer base, is Sprint in real trouble? Not really -- it still has over 50 million wireless subscribers. Should it have lobbied to win the contract with Apple for the iPhone? While we'll never know if that was even possible, that one partnership alone could have completely reversed Sprint's fortunes in the last 24 months. The carrier is hoping the Palm Pre can make up for last ground, though. It may, but that one hand of cards can't win the poker tournament.

Continue reading Sprint is not beyond fixing -- but time is running out fast

Sprint is not beyond fixing -- but time is running out fast originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), which competes with Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), reported Q1 numbers after the bell on Wednesday. The data continue to show that all is not well with the world.

Demand for Qualcomm's products is down, and as far as management is concerned, earnings visibility just isn't in the cards due to the financial mess and its effect on the company's marketable securities. Talk about not inspiring confidence.

For the first quarter, Qualcomm delivered pro forma earnings per share of $0.31. That represented an ugly drop of 40% on a year-over-year basis. Revenues inched up 3% to $2.5 billion. The top line beat expectations, but the bottom line didn't come anywhere close as Wall Street was counting on $0.47 per share. Then again, what did any of us expect? It's tough out there in the world.

Continue reading Qualcomm: I wouldn't buy it

Qualcomm: I wouldn't buy it originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The day may be coming. According to The Wall Street Journal, a new FCC "report clears the way for the FCC to move forward with a plan to auction off airwaves to a bidder who agrees to offer free, national wireless Internet service."

Although the study indicates that most wireless carriers will not be hurt by the program, that is almost certainly not true. By many estimates the free service will be available to 50% of the US population in four years.

The new plan may well do some significant damage to major cellular and WiFi providers. Free is free, and $59 a month can be expensive. How many people will opt to pay for service when they don't need to?

The other industries that could experience some level of harm are the cable companies and telecoms, which offer wired broadband to the home. A good wireless alternative may allow some people to cancel those services.

The FCC regulates the wireless and wired communications companies. Now it means to undermine them.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

FCC may deliver a free wireless web originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Research in Motion Limited (USA)

Continue reading Get ready for the BlackBerry Storm 3G

Get ready for the BlackBerry Storm 3G originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It looked like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was going to go out of the business of selling "unlocked" iPhones, which are set up to work on any wireless network. Its new 3G model was going to be sold through about two dozen carriers worldwide. They would be the sole distribution method for the new handset and would make money on the wireless subscription plans marketed with the phones.

It looks like things are not working out that way. According to the AP, "Apple Inc. is putting on sale unlocked iPhone 3G in Hong Kong, allowing people to use it with any mobile phone carrier." The unit will cost consumers $695.

Apple may be taking a significant misstep. If it alienates its carrier partners by undercutting their ability to make money on the product, over time they could push competing products from companies, including the Samsung Instinct and several products that Nokia (NYSE: NOK), the world largest handset company, will introduce later this year.

Apple is a bit vulnerable now. Its 3G iPhone has run into connection problems in the U.S. That may have made some customers less likely to run into stores to get the new devices. Damaging relationships with its distribution operators by offering unlocked iPhones gives the competition an opening.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Unlocking the new Apple iPhone originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) says it sold one million 3G iPhones in its first three days on the market. Some analysts believe that company could sell 20 million of them in the next year.

One of the reasons some people waited for the new 3G version of the phone is that it runs on AT&T's (NYSE: T) faster wireless broadband network. The older version, which ran on the 2.5G network, could be very slow linking to the internet.

Now that over a million people have their faster phones, they may find that there are a lot of places they won't work. AT&T's 3G network is concentrated in large cities. Even in those urban areas and their suburbs, there are a lot of dead spots. At least a couple of those are within a short drive from the Apple and AT&T headquarters.

For people taking their iPhones to Las Vegas, the coverage is extremely good. Anyone taking a vacation to Vermont, New Hampshire, Wyoming, or Montana is out of luck. (For a more complete list of places the new 3G iPhone won't work, visit 247wallst.com.)

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Places the new iPhone won't work: Near Apple headquarters for starters originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Imagine getting a free version of the new Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) 3G iPhone if you spend enough money on your cellular plan.

According to the Telegraph, O2, the iPhone distributor in the UK, will do just that. The paper writes that the firm with the exclusive rights to the product in Britain "is set to give away the 3G version of the handset to its highest-spending customers when it launches here next month."

The idea makes a perverse kind of sense. Cellular providers will have to pay Apple about $400 for the handset, unless they are passing that costs on to their subscribers. If a customer has a large enough plan, say $200 each month for a year, it may make sense for O2 to give that customer an iPhone to stay around.

Maybe AT&T (NYSE: T) will do the same in the U.S.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Free Apple iPhones in the UK? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) had a mediocre quarter, but that was an improvement on the recent past. The company still has to pray its national WiMax initiative will draw subscribers when it gets going next year.

Revenue rose about 2% to $10.2 billion. For the second quarter, diluted earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations were 1 cent, compared with 10 cents a year earlier

Perhaps the most important thing about the wireless company's numbers is that it is not losing customers. According to the company's earnings release: "Post-paid net additions increased more than 235,000 from the first quarter and were a positive 16,000 for the quarter." The churn rate of customers dropped to 2% from 2.3% in Q1, the immediately previous quarter.

Sprint is the odd company that gets a market benefit from not doing worse. If it were doing better, imagine the windfall for shareholders. Over the last year, the company's stock is up about 23%. On earnings news, shares are up another 3% this morning.

Now, the market gets to wait to see if Sprint's bet on WiMax will pay off. The company is using the new wireless broadband standard to build its high-speed network instead of opting for the 3G technology being used by AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ).

It is a Hail Mary pass, but someone may catch it.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Sprint Nextel's (S) mediocre earnings are an improvement originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Aug 2007 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft buys mobile phone ad company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 May 2007 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As if it weren't bad enough that an activist investor is pushing Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) to cut costs, short interest in the wireless phone company rose 6.4 million shares in April, to 53.4 million. Ultimately, though, the investors betting against Sprint aren't going to prevail.

To be sure, Sprint has lots of problems. It had a net loss in subscribers in the fourth quarter of last year, in contrast to AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless, which both gained customers. Over the last two years, Sprint's stock is off almost 10% while AT&T's is up almost 70%.

But the news isn't all bad.

The nationwide roll-out of Sprint's WiMax network is finally beginning and it's scheduled to be done in 2008. Skeptics do not think it can effectively compete with the 3G networks being built by the company's large competitors and point to the drop-off in the IPO of WiMax pioneer Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) to back up their arguments.

Shorts are assuming that few customers will sign up for Sprint's network, which could reach more than 100 million potential customers, and that the stock will keep falling. But I think they are mistaken. Competition will be tough, but Sprint will hold its own against 3G.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Sprint Nextel shorts are wrong originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.