Sprint To Be Bought By Softbank?

[palandri]

(Reuters) - Softbank Corp (9984.T), Japan's third-largest mobile carrier, is in talks to buy a majority stake in U.S. telecoms company Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N) in a deal worth more than 1 trillion yen ($12.8 billion), a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

I wonder how this will effect Sprint?

Japan's Softbank in talks for $12.8 billion Sprint stake | Reuters

 

[maj71303]

kinda interesting development but as I hear they are kind of the low man in Japan themselves kinda like sprint.

 

[palandri]

They have a few phones I've never seen like Casio & NEC: Products | SoftBank

 

[maj71303]

They have a few phones I've never seen like Casio & NEC: Products | SoftBank

yep those brands don't make it over here since it's hard to get into the U.S. market. Also it's hard like they said to even penetrate the U.S. market network wise either. But those brands you see over there they make some good phones that some would kill to have over here.

 

[HeyCori]

I would rather not see this happen.

 

[palandri]

I would rather not see this happen.

Why?

 

[maj71303]

I would rather not see this happen.

Well competition is a good thing and you would see some of the latest tech if they did decide to enter the U.S. market. But you won't see that since the U.S. market is not the end all be all to these companies. Most would rather not play the susidize phone market game.

 

[maj71303]

But please give us some information on why not. Just because you don't wanna see it happen is not a great answer.

 

[HeyCori]

Why?

Nothing against Softbank but I'd hate to see one of the few "large" American telecoms get bought out by a foreign country. Most importantly, I don't see how this benefits me as a consumer. For starters, Sprint is not in danger of closing shop. They still have plenty of cash to stay afloat for quite some time. Furthermore, Sprint is spending a ton of cash on their LTE network right now, and that's definitely hurting their bottom line, but that won't last forever and eventually that huge spending bill will shrink. Now, I don't have a lot of love for Dan Hesse, but I think he has a clear vision of what he wants Sprint to be, which is a low-cost alternative to Verizon/AT&T. Remove Hesse and I think that vision falls apart. I don't think Softbank would make the financial sacrifices that Hesse has. Any major company, whether it's Softbank or someone else, would want to turn Sprint into the next big teleco. In turn Sprint would get better phones and more service towers, but I think that would be paid for through higher prices and the loss of services that Hesse champions (for example, unlimited data). This deal may be great for investors but I don't see this helping me without Hesse calling the shots.

 

[palandri]

Nothing against Softbank but I'd hate to see one of the few "large" American telecoms get bought out by a foreign country. Most importantly, I don't see how this benefits me as a consumer. For starters, Sprint is not in danger of closing shop. They still have plenty of cash to stay afloat for quite some time. Furthermore, Sprint is spending a ton of cash on their LTE network right now, and that's definitely hurting their bottom line, but that won't last forever and eventually that huge spending bill will shrink. Now, I don't have a lot of love for Dan Hesse, but I think he has a clear vision of what he wants Sprint to be, which is a low-cost alternative to Verizon/AT&T. Remove Hesse and I think that vision falls apart. I don't think Softbank would make the financial sacrifices that Hesse has. Any major company, whether it's Softbank or someone else, would want to turn Sprint into the next big teleco. In turn Sprint would get better phones and more service towers, but I think that would be paid for through higher prices and the loss of services that Hesse champions (for example, unlimited data). This deal may be great for investors but I don't see this helping me without Hesse calling the shots.

I understand what you're saying. Don't forget T-Mobile is owned by a Deutsche Telekom and Verizon I am pretty sure is mostly owned by Vodafone. Hard to get away from it.

I just read this other report that says Sprint needs financial help and this will help them compete with Verizon and AT&T. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing: Sprint in Talks With Softbank on

 

[HeyCori]

I understand what you're saying. Don't forget T-Mobile is owned by a Deutsche Telekom and Verizon I am pretty sure is mostly owned by Vodafone. Hard to away from it.

I just read this other report that says Sprint needs financial help and this will help them compete with Verizon and AT&T. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing: Sprint in Talks With Softbank on

It looks like it's the reverse. Verizon owns 23% of the subsidiary, Vodafone Italy, with Vodafone owning the other 76%. Kinda weird, IMO.

 

[palandri]

It looks like it's the reverse. Verizon owns 23% of the subsidiary, Vodafone Italy, with Vodafone owning the other 76%. Kinda weird, IMO.

Look here under Americas, it say, "...In the United States, Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the country's largest mobile..." I don't really understand it either. Maybe it's controlling stock, not a majority, but a plurality. It's confusing

Vodafone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[HeyCori]

Hmmm, maybe companies that start with V just love to stick together.

 

[HeyCori]

Hopefully the consumer wins in the end.

CNBC: Softbank to pay $20 billion for a 70 percent stake in Sprint -- Engadget

Rumors of Sprint's $12 billion acquisition by Softbank weren't exaggerated, they were understated: according to CNBC, the Now Network will announce a $20 billion transaction with the Japanese network on Monday, granting Softbank a 70 percent stake in the company. According to people familiar with the matter, Softbank will purchase $8 billion in shares directly from Sprint, snagging an additional $12 billion in stock at $5.25 a share from other shareholders. The Japanese firm's payout would net Sprint $3 billion, money CNBC supposes it might use to regain control of Clearwire. Softbank's cash may also be used to bolster Sprint's ongoing LTE rollout, which is poised to light up in over 20 markets in the coming months. The details are said to be officially announced tomorrow morning, but we've reached out to Sprint for a comment in case it wants to spill the beans early.

 

[palandri]

That's a large chunk they're buying.

 

[johnmcd348]

How will Softbank buying majority in Sprint change things?

Mods: If you need to move this please do. I merged it with another thread
Softbank to Buy 70% of Sprint as Son Seeks Growth in U.S. - Bloomberg

So, now with it semi-official that Japanese company Softbank will be buying a majority share in Sprint, how does this change things for the company as a whole? Does it bode well or bad for teh future of Windows based devices? I've been trying to get into Softbank to try and see what devices they support and sell regularly but I cannot seem to get passed the internet block due to my living in teh U.S.

Anyone know much here about Softbank? I just heard on CNN they were the first company in Japan to sell teh iPhone back in the day.

edit:
OK, nevermind, right after posting this, I binged Softbank and found an Engilsh versio of thier website. It appears after a quick browse of the site, the only Windows devices they have are Professional grade Windows Mobile units. Still not really sure about this company. Anyone have any facts about them?

 

[Heron_Kusanagi]

SoftBank

Well, the iPhone is near the top of the website, they sell a lot of Japanese products, including a lot of Sharp Aquos Android phones that I have never seen before and flip phones are still part of their product lineup. They only have one Nokia, the X02. And no WP devices.

So, nope, I don't foresee any WP love suddenly. Maybe some unique offerings from Sharp, Panasonic and Toshiba. But no WP.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I had no issues viewing Softbank's site, despite living in the US. Most of the devices they sell are from Japanese companies such as Casio, Panasonic, Sharp, Kyocera, Fujitsu, Toshiba. They also carry Dell, HTC, Huawei, Nokia (Symbian), Apple and ZTE.


I doubt if the brands carried by Softbank in Japan would have much effect on Sprint's future offerings. Japan has historically sold mostly domestic phones, not imports. Japanese OEM phones never were big sellers in the US; the only one I remember is Sony.


Products | SoftBank

 

[Laura Knotek]

Here is a good article about the Softbank takeover of Sprint.

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

If they turn Sprint to a GSM network I will be really happy. Especially if it runs on AT&T spectrum!