Much of this success can be attributed to a range of new products and offerings the company has debuted over the last year. And as this year reaches its midway point, it doesn’t appear that the company has any plans to slow down.
Quite the opposite in fact; on June 18, the company is hosting an “invite-only” party titled simply “We Don’t Play it Safe and Sound.” Whether the bite will match the bark is anyone’s guess at this point, but there can be little doubt that T-Mobile is making waves. And in some ways, this describes the wireless provider’s last 24 months or so.
With giants in the form of AT&T and Verizon Wireless hogging up the marketplace, T-Mobile needed to differentiate itself from the competition and offer consumers something unique. Under CEO John Legere’s guidance, that has been exactly the route taken.
Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness
It can probably be said without too much controversy that T-Mobile has been successful in part because the choice was made to turn the company into the anti-AT&T. Where AT&T required two-year contracts, T-Mobile offered individuals the choice to buy service month-to-month; where AT&T made it incredibly difficult to upgrade a phone before a contract expired, T-Mobile introduced its Jump! program, allowing individuals to upgrade their phone twice a year rather than once every two years; where AT&T relied on its reputation to gain new customers, T-Mobile offered something else altogether – cold hard cash in the form of reimbursement for early termination fees. Suffice to say, T-Mobile has taken every step necessary to stand out in a sea of nearly indistinguishable competitors, and so far, it seems to be working.
It isn’t just services that the company is flaunting either. T-Mobile has taken great steps to promote Samsung Galaxy devices, including one of this year’s most successful smartphones, the new Samsung Galaxy S5. It is probably fair to say, in fact, that this promotion – and the company’s efforts to lure S5 customers through cheaper data rates and “uncarrier” plans – contributed in part to the phones success.
If you aren’t convinced of the merits of that argument, consider this: T-Mobile’s relationship with Samsung Galaxy devices is set to continue if industry rumors are to be believed. Current insiders predict that the Samsung Galaxy Pro 8.4 LTE could be coming to T-Mobile as early as July to take on competitors such as AT&T’s Padfone X tablet from ASUS. If this is true, both parties would appear to be getting something out of it.
It is through this multi-pronged approach of offering unique and asymmetric services, and forming a relationship with companies such as Samsung to help promote Samsung Galaxy devices, that has allowed T-Mobile to grow at such an impressive rate. Now the question is: can this success be maintained over the next year? How about the next five or 10 years?
The Future
Any questions as to what T-Mobile has planned for the immediate and near future will likely be answered on June 18, when CEO John Legere hosts the company’s event, aptly titled “We Don’t Play it Safe and Sound.” What plans the company has for its “uncarrier” plans are unclear at the moment, but if recent history is any indicator, they could prove groundbreaking within the industry. As the old saying goes, only time will tell.
About the author –
Jennifer Thayer is a technology writer who enjoys writing about gadgets, apps and the latest tech news. Follow her on Twitter.
