Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We hope you enjoy it!
And without further ado:
One of the nicer traditions of the holiday season is that giving feeling that overcomes many of us, which often results in hours surfing Amazon.com or the local mall jazzed up on spiced coffee and good will. We all get this feeling to one extent or another, even if it’s just for a few precious seconds.
I will guess that most of us impacted by this notion act upon it with a level of constraint somewhat equal to our ability to “give” in terms of finances. I say “most” because I do believe the credit card industry makes a pretty good killing on those of us who may go a bit above and beyond our immediate financial envelope.
And then there’s Sprint, which this week got in on that giving feeling with CEO Marcelo Claure sticking his name on cards inserted into gift baskets sent out to an untold number of T-Mobile US retail locations. The move on its surface seemed to be more of an attention grabbing stunt than say any real sentiment from Claure to those T-Mobile US employees, but I guess there are worse ways to grab attention.
However, if this move was done by anyone else than Sprint and Claure, I would probably have simply moved on. But, seeing that it was Sprint making the move, well … I just gotta comment.
Now, I understand you gotta spend money to make money. But when you are also looking to “trim” $2.5 billion from operations in an effort that’s also set to include significant job cuts, should Sprint really be throwing money at pithy gags that can only hope to generate a smidge of reaction from social media? (Cough, cough.)
I have no idea what Sprint spent on this move, but I would guess if it was anywhere close to the average yearly salary of one of its employees set to receive a pink slip instead of a gift basket, it would be money ill spent. Oddly, those gift baskets also included offers to T-Mobile US employees to make the switch to Sprint.
Not that Sprint is alone in throwing away money. I am guessing T-Mobile US spent quite a bit more orchestrating its holiday cheer.
Maybe I am just being too much of a Grinch on this matter and should look at the festive spirit in which I am sure Sprint was looking to take in this latest move. But, with money tight and job cuts on the line, it’s hard not to view Sprint’s maneuver as a bit misguided.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Worst of the Week column. Here are some quick, but satisfying extras:
–Strategy Analytics released details on a study showing a 5.3-inch smartphone screen is the sweet spot for consumers.
The research firm found smartphone users in the U.S. and U.K. reacted most positively to a device with that screen size, followed by 5-inch screen and a 5.5-inch screen. In addition – and to no surprise – U.S. smartphone users generally preferred larger screens to their former colonial rulers.
The oddest part of the survey is that I can’t think of one device sold in this country with a 5.3-inch screen. It would seem someone could make some headway should they be able to cobble together a device with such proportions.
–Speaking of smartphones, I would be a bit hesitant to purchase one of Samsung’s latest smartphones at the moment. It appears a day does not go by in which there is not a new promotion out there offering some sort of discount/bonus/free back rub tied to a high-end Samsung device.
The past week witnessed AT&T Mobility offer up a “buy-one, get-one” deal; T-Mobile US offered up bonus cash and some free Netflix; and Sprint is giving out a 32-inch Samsung LED TV with the purchase of a somewhat smaller Samsung smartphone. I would wager to guess customers might be able to exchange that TV for a back rub in some instances.
All of these promos most likely indicate Samsung and its carrier partners are having trouble moving those devices through their inventory, but for those on the lookout deals are there to be had.
–Juniper Research recently released a study predicting a “robot” will “reside” in 10% of American households by 2020.
I inserted quotes around those words first because Juniper included such devices as automated vacuum cleaners and plant watering sprinklers in its definition of a robot, and also because I am really set to trade their services for any form of actual rent I would be expecting from a household residence sporting a different last name.
Anyways, the most compelling comment from the report was the notion “trust” remained a key hurdle to further adoption of in-home robots. There was not much detail given on what exactly was included in this term, but I think with just a few exceptions Hollywood has taught us trust in robots rarely has a happy ending.
I am OK with robots cleaning up my dropped Taco Bell crumbs, but for now will maintain a healthy lack of trust in deciding how many robots I allow inside my house.
–This will be the final WOTW for 2015 as the upcoming holiday’s all line up on our typical Friday posting day. So, I leave you all with good wishes for a safe and sound holiday season and look forward in 2016 to diving back into commenting on the absurd and outrageous from the mobile telecom space.
I welcome your comments. Please send me an e-mail at dmeyer@rcrwireless.com.
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