Sprint to its dealers: “If there’s one rule of the iPhone On Sprint Club, it’s that we don’t talk about the iPhone On Sprint Club.” That’s kind of the gist of a newly leaked memo out of Sprint, which asks dealers not to speculate on whether or not the carrier will be getting Apple’s handset this fall.
9to5Mac is reporting that Sprint is asking its dealers to zip their lips in the wake of a new Wall Street Journal article that happens to mention the carrier will be getting the iPhone 5 when it launches sometime in September or October (depending on who you ask). According to a leaked memo posted by SprintFeed, dealers are being asked to play dumb or “simply state ‘no comment’” when asked about the device.
“Action Required: Do Not Speculate about Sprint Getting the iPhone,” the bold headline in the Sprint Dealer News memo reads. “A recent Wall Street Journal article mentioned that Sprint is getting the iPhone 5. If you’re asked by a customer or just talking to friends or family members, you need to avoid making any comment about the iPhone and simply state ‘no comment.’”
The memo further suggests that dealers asked a direct question on the subject simply be told, “Yes, I saw a few of those reports. I don’t have any information to share.”
Aside from the WSJ article, there’s another tidbit of potential evidence floating around to support the theory. Back in May, Apple posted an engineering job for an iPhone technician based out of Kansas City -- which just so happens to be Sprint’s home town.
However, a forum member on MacRumors claiming to be a Sprint employee appears to throw cold water on the leak, at least for now.
“We will not know until they announce it just like they did for Verizon earlier this year,” the employee reveals. “Basically they gave us a set of scripting we can use to tell you we cannot speak on unannounced/unreleased products. If you think that is confirmation we are getting it, that is silly of you. Agents will be the last people to know we got the iPhone until it is all said and done.”
There’s certainly no technical reason why Sprint can’t have the iPhone now -- the CDMA model released for Verizon Wireless would also work just fine on Sprint’s network, and there is evidence to suggest the next iPhone may be a GSM + CDMA “world phone” capable of being used on both AT&T/T-Mobile as well as Verizon/Sprint here in the United States.
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(Image courtesy of 9to5Mac and SprintFeed)
