NEW ORLEANS—Windows phone fans on Sprint may only have a few more months to wait. The carrier's director of consumer acquisition, David Owens, said that he's "still bullish on Apollo" at the CTIA trade show today, which may point to Windows Phone 8 devices on Sprint.
Back at CES in January, Owens said Sprint's single Windows Phone, the HTC Arrive, hadn't "done well enough for us to jump back into the fire." But at the time he added that Sprint would give Microsoft's OS another look in the "August-September time period," a reference to the upcoming Windows Phone 8 "Apollo."
Today, Owens had nothing but good things to say about Apollo. Sprint still sells the HTC Arrive, currently discounted to $49 with contract.
Samsung, Kyocera and LTE Phones
When asked about Samsung's hot Galaxy S III, Owens just said, "we're very pleased with the success of the Galaxy S II," which can be read in several different ways.
He was a bit more positive on whether Kyocera's new low-cost Android 4.0 phones, the Rise and the Hydro, would come to Virgin Mobile.
"We're not announcing anything with that, but there may be more to follow. They've been a good partner for Sprint, and they understand who their audience is," Owens said of Kyocera.
How about the HTC One V? While HTC said that smartphone is coming to U.S. carriers this summer and announced Virgin Mobile as a partner way back in February, Owens let that one go with a "no comment."
Whatever new smartphones come to Sprint's main brand, they're likely to pack LTE. Owens said Sprint is on track to release "12-15 LTE devices" between now and the end of the year, including smartphones, tablets, USB modems, and hotspots. So far it has three, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, LG Viper, and HTC EVO 4G LTE.
We're likely to hear more about Sprint's LTE plans at a breakfast the carrier is having tomorrow to discuss its network strategy. I'll be there.
For more from CTIA, check out the photoblog below.