Edible Apple

Sprint was the last major US carrier to start selling the iPhone, but once they jumped on board Sprint subscribers started snatching up Apple’s smartphone like hotcakes.

Last October when the iPhone 4S went on sale, it only took 12 hours for Apple’s smartphone to set a one-day sales record at Sprint for a specific device. Of course, Sprint had to pay through the nose for the right to carry the iPhone, pledging $15 billion over 4 years for iPhone devices (30.5 million in total), regardless of whether or not they’d be able to move all of the units. It was an arguably risky move on the part of Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and the company’s board of directors, but hindsight seems to confirm the astuteness of said strategy. After all, just a few months ago when Sprint released their earnings for the holiday quarter, the Kansas City based carrier noted that the iPhone itself accounted for 45% of new subscribers, again driving home the point that the iPhone can attract new customers like no other smartphone device on the market.

Now, with the iPhone 5 upon us, Sprint is confident that the iPhone 5 will be yet another homerun for Apple and Sprint. During this week’s Goldman Sachs technology conference in New York City not too long ago, Hesse discussed the sales potential for the iPhone 5.

“I don’t know how it compares with our competitors, but I would expect it’s doing well,” Hesse said. “I’m just glad we have it.”

Also excited about the iPhone 5 is AT&T who previously reported a record number of initial orders for the device, with AT&T CEO Randal Stephenson even pointing out that many AT&T subscribers are absorbing early termination fees just so that they can get their hands on Apple’s iPhone 5.

“..this continues to be a project that just has incredible demand, and people are willing to pay for it”, Stephenson added.