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Originally Posted by Paragon
Yes, it has been well established in the media around the world that HTC has been changing it's business model, cutting out resellers, and rebranders. That's not the point here.....Sorry Hobbes.
Sprint and Bell Mobility were days from launching with UTSTarcom. DAYS! A deal was in place between these parties. There is no way that HTC could, or would come in at the 11th hour and say they changed their minds and were cutting out UTStarcom. If by some huge stretch of the imagination they actually did that they would submarine any chance of ever working with Sprint again. If they were to mess with things that late in the game, there's a much better chance of it completely blowing up in their face then there is of them gaining a new direct customer. If you were Sprint how would you feel if HTC came in days before and messed with your launch, as well as everything else down the line?
No, there is something else at play here for it to happen so late in the game. HTC would have played it that way from the start, many months ago as they did with Telus, O2, iMate, and many other resellers and carriers.
I would speculate that UTSTartcom ran into some problems in building the final ROM or some other technical aspect at their end as a rebrander and the wheels fell off forcing HTC to jump in to save the deal, and this is the main reason for the delays. It also explains why there was so much confusion around the launch date after the initial delay. They were no longer working off a set schedule. They were now reworking things, now with HTC, and in a panic mode trying to get it out the door as soon as possible, but unsure just how long that was going to take. Wondering if they could pull it off in a month or was it more likely going to take several weeks or months?
This of course fits well with HTC's new business model, but the timing sure doesn't. As I said it would be far more damaging then it would be good doing it this way.
Dave
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Does your source have some kind of confirmation that UTStarcom is no longer involved here? I mean call me crazy but isn't it possible that as part of HTC's efforts to publicize their brand name that they negotiated with UTStarcom to take over all branding of the device?
UTStarcom can still be the facilitator between HTC and Sprint/Verizon without emblazoning their name all over the product. So unless you have knowledge of UTStarcom being out of the picture then I'm inclined to believe that they're still there--just not visible. HTC has always done all of the hardware and software development anyway, so UTStarcom was always just a facilitator.
As for the name change, maybe Sprint decided that a model name was more memorable than a model number (think Treo, Q, iPhone, etc.). Let's be honest--UTStarcom PPC6800 as a brand name has zero cache. Thanks to the iPhone, the push now is for Smart Phones in the consumer sector, and it's obvious from the marketing materials that Sprint's readying a slick advertising push for this phone (which they never did for the 6600 and 6700). In my humble opinion (no secret sources here) that's the only reason for the new name.
06-13-2007, 09:53 AM
I wouldn't get to hung up on "The Source" Do a little digging and you will find lots of info showing and talking about the UTStarcom 6800. You don't need my word on it. 
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