Sprint (NYSE: S) will start selling the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Watch on Sept. 25, the same day that Apple's new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus go on sale, becoming the first U.S. carrier to confirm sales of the smart watch. Sprint could be hoping that the watch helps drive consumers to its stores just as iPhone sales are getting underway.
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"We believe Apple Watch will be one of the hottest gifts for the holiday shopping season," Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said in a statement. "We are excited to offer Apple Watch at hundreds of our stores alongside iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus."
Sprint currently offers several smart watches from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, including the Samsung Gear S and LG G Watch R. The addition of the Apple Watch to Sprint stores comes shortly after the carrier said it would sell the new BB-8 App-Enabled Droid, a toy based on a character from the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie, in its stores -- including its new RadioShack stores -- and online. The carrier boasted that it is "the only wireless provider to offer the BB-8 nationwide."
It seems clear that distribution for the Apple Watch will continue to expand. Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly said that starting Sept. 4 the company would carry the gadget in more than 900 of its big-box stores, up from a little more than 100 stores in August, and that the Apple Watch would be available in all 1,050 of its big-box stores and in around 30 of its Best Buy Mobile stores by the end of September.
It's unclear whether or when other U.S. carriers will start selling the Apple Watch. T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) CEO John Legere tweeted earlier this month that the company would offer the Apple Watch, but he did not say when. T-Mobile COO Mike Sievert said on Twitter earlier this month that the carrier would carry the Apple Watch in "several hundred" stores. T-Mobile currently offers the Samsung Gear S and Motorola Moto 360. T-Mobile will also support the Samsung Gear S2 when it becomes available.
A Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) spokesman said the carrier did not have anything to announce regarding the Apple Watch. The carrier currently sells the LG Watch Urbane, Moto 360 2nd Generation watch and the Samsung Gear S (it will the carry the Gear S2 once it becomes available).
An AT&T (NYSE: T) spokeswoman declined to comment on the carrier's plans for the Apple Watch. AT&T currently offers the Samsung Gear S and Gear Fit, the LG G Watch Urbane, the Moto 360 and the Timex Ironman One GPS+.
For more:
- see this Sprint page
- see this 9to5 Mac article
- see this The Next Web article
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