Samsung Instinct flies off Sprint's shelves at record pace

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 26th 2008 at 12:00PM

Looks like Sprint's gargantuan marketing blitz for the Instinct is in the process of paying off, because the carrier has announced that the Samsung device has become its best-selling EV-DO device ever in the first week of availability. Long-term popularity will depend largely on word of mouth as early adopters decide whether they made the right purchase, of course, but it's a promising sign for a company that hasn't had a ton of good news to report lately. They're reporting that the overwhelming popularity has led to shortages in some areas, but go on to assure us that "Samsung has increased efforts to deliver new supplies of Instinct on a daily basis and manufacturing plants are operating at full capacity to keep up with the demand." Here's our question, though: Sprint makes a point of saying that it's their best-selling EV-DO device, so what's their best-selling device regardless of technology -- the Sony Z-100, perhaps, also known as the baddest cellphone of all time?

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, Sprint, EV-DO, CDMA

Tags: instinct, sales, samsung, sprint

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

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champ22 @ Jun 26th 2008 12:12PM

lol post a pic of the Sony Z-100 please !!

Neutral

Chris B. @ Jun 26th 2008 12:28PM

http://cellphones.about.com/library/bl-pp-sony-zuma-cm-z100.htm

Hawt stuff!

Neutral

adm @ Jun 26th 2008 12:47PM

yeah hopefully those rumors of the 3G z-100 are true!

Low Ranked

JoeyStyles @ Jun 26th 2008 2:02PM

This will last until July 11

Highly Ranked

PJ @ Jun 26th 2008 2:58PM

Are you referring to the iPhone 3G release? Cause that has nothing to do with setting a Sprint EV-DO device sales record.

Neutral

JoeyStyles @ Jun 26th 2008 3:06PM

yes I am because I give sprint respect to sprint for a sales record. I am looking more big picture this device should have been released in the 1Q to get a lot of revenue for a 6 month period but they release this phone so close to the launch of a 200 dollar Iphone that is not good business so to sprint congrats, I am not an att fan but in about two weeks all of the spring customers will go to att and return there instinct's for 3g iphones

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Omagus @ Jun 26th 2008 5:57PM

Ok, so they should have released it before it was even announced...?

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KENNETH DANIELS @ Jun 26th 2008 3:30PM

The 3G iPhone will not sale as well as it did last year. People change mobile phones like they do clothing. Competition from other phone manufacturers and carriers is in full affect.

Neutral

badqat @ Jun 26th 2008 4:05PM

pfft...I'll go on record right here and now and state that Sprint will have a negative in both gross and net postpaid subscribers again this quarter.

No one is rushing to join the "Now (You've F'd Up) Network."

And I'll also go on record and state that Apple will sell more iPhone3Gs in a year than they did with the original.

Neutral

SPOKE @ Jun 26th 2008 5:29PM

@badqat and you can also go on record for saying record a record amount of times.

bonehead!

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badqat @ Jun 26th 2008 6:11PM

@SPOKE...you've beaten me, since you had one more instance in your post...

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StreetHigh181 @ Jul 19th 2008 12:52PM

Believe me, I was in NYC the other day, and it doesn't seem like the lines in front of the Apple store are going to die down anytime soon, I think it will sell a lot better. But considering that these phones are much cheaper than the previous ones, we'll have to see about how much revenue they make off of it.

Neutral

Achilles @ Jun 26th 2008 4:07PM

Don't care much about iPhone. This article is a comment on Sprint, not Apple. iPhone's are unavailable to Sprint so let it go Apple fanboys. Go stand in line already..... Maybe you can video each other in line with your old iPhones, ooops, sorry, iPhones don't have video capability. My bad.

Neutral

hyori lee @ Jun 26th 2008 4:48PM

probably the sanyo 8100/8200 or samsung sph-a400/a530/a620. ahhhh I miss those good ole days

Neutral

burton1976 @ Jun 26th 2008 5:01PM

I wanna go on the record and say that the sky is blue, light travels fast, everyone will eventually die and that the Yankees will be in a new stadium next year!

Next time, try not to sound like a complete fool when you post. Think about it...negative GROSS? Huh? Negative NET maybe...but negative GROSS?

Neutral

Omagus @ Jun 26th 2008 6:00PM

How about a healthy, "No duh!" for badqat. What, was the Instinct supposed to singlehandedly save Sprint from years of bad management? And OF COURSE the 3G iPhone will sell more. Nobody outside of the US was buying the EDGE version because it was a step backwards for most cell phone users. Now that hindrance is no longer there.

Highly Ranked

Roger Alford @ Jun 27th 2008 2:06AM

Its also worth noting that while CDMA/EV-DO (in particular Rev A) is a 3G technology and a big jump forward, even from iPhone standard.... GSM is predominant, and that there are more HSPA networks set up in more countries (even our own) faster then EV-DO has been implemented. Matter of fact, Australia has pretty much killed off CDMA/EV-DO in favor of HSPA.

Thats just how it is. For a CDMA carrier, and an EV-DO device, this is COMPARABLE to iPhone 3G. iPhone will OBVIOUSLY sell more, simply because GSM/HSPA is the WORLD STANDARD. Sprint and Samsung did a FANTASTIC job on the Instinct, and if it was released on more CDMA networks worldwide, it would probably sell a ratio exact to iPhone EDGE did.

Im an Apple Fan, HATE AT&T (they fucked me too many times without lube, then again so did Sprint), but I dislike the iPhone. I prefer the underdog, who managed to get it correct this time. Sprint is a FANTASTIC network, BEST voice quality, BEST latent data rate, however, yes, management and customer service SUCKS ASS. How they managed to make a great thing from horrible people, Ill never know.

Neutral

Martin @ Jul 1st 2008 8:20AM

Lost one sale from me considering they refused to give me a better upgrade price even though they were replacing my old phone due to damages. Looks like iPhone to me come contract time!

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Frankie @ Jun 27th 2008 2:24PM

@Roger Alford
Best post I've ever read, though I don't like Apple, and I think the Instinct is crappy when compared to other smartphones. But besides that your post was right on point. RIGHT ON POINT. (I felt the need to emphasize, sorry)

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Serge @ Jun 27th 2008 3:32PM

@Roger Alford: i could not have said it better myself.
your post should be copied and reposed with every sprint/instinct related post from now on.

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Achilles @ Jun 27th 2008 3:48PM

I agree but remember that the Instinct is NOT a smartphone.

Neutral

tonybravo @ Jul 19th 2008 3:40AM

I got the Instinct one week after release,and i'm proud to say i fell in love with it from the beginning.Sure theres some quirks to work out but from what i've read a lot of them will be taken care of in the next update(s).I hear a lot of people complaining that it's hard to remove the back panel,i was having the same issue at first,but now after repeated times of removal it's become easier,i just have to sanwich it between my hands and it's off.As for what i would like changed,well i'd love to have opera,and a few good apps.Other than that for what i personally use the phone (music,gps,phone calls, and texts) it works just fine.I've previously played around with an iphone,before and after owning my instinct.At first the iphone amazed me,but after owning my phone.I started to really see how much it truly lacked.For starters the tactile feedback alone makes it better to use.It just feels good,and you know an action is taking place.Unlike just rubbing a screen and wondering on the iphone.For those people bashing this phone without remembering that it's only been out for a month i'd like to remind you just last year those iphone problems you all where crying about.With time a smorgasbord of fixes came and now you have a descent phone for which you can justify paying large amounts of money to ATT and Apple. :)