According to the results of a recent survey conducted by Cowen and Company, industry leader Verizon Wireless remains the top mobile operator in the United States (despite some bit of slippage, more on this later) in terms of overall brand or image, while number four carrier Sprint has shown some significant improvement. Cowen conducts its survey on a quarterly basis, gathering feedback from over a thousand poll respondents across the country.
In the newest survey, Cowen found that 31.8 percent of those who participated in the poll stated that Sprint’s brand has definitely improved. Moreover, 38.5 percent of customers who availed of the major US wireless carrier’s service has said that its brand is on the rise. Despite the fact that 7 percent of Sprint’s customers think that its brand is getting worse, it bears noting that this percentage is the lowest ever for Sprint in the history of Cowen’s poll. As explained by an analyst at Cowen via an investors’ note, Sprint is expected to take full advantage of its rising brand as well as its near network parity to generate some momentum in competing against the top two mobile operators in America (Verizon Wireless and AT&T).
With regards to Verizon Wireless, the industry leader remains the top carrier among the Big Four according to the respondents. The Big Red’s average, however, has significantly dropped to a weighted average of 2.01, marking the first time ever that the number is more than 2. As pointed out by Cowen, Verizon’s vulnerability has increased recently, and the mobile operator will now have to strike a balance between compromising sales margins or facing the prospect of losing some of its (albeit still formidable) customer base.
Other industry watchers are beginning to notice the same thing, too. According to a research note recently released by MoffettNathanson, Verizon Wireless is projected to register a net loss of postpaid net customers during the first three months of this year. As for Sprint, the number four mobile operator in the US will likely post additions with regards to its postpaid phone base. MoffettNathanson, however, qualified that due to the unlimited data wars that ignited in the last few months, initial projections for Sprint may have been too optimistic. Speaking of unlimited data wars, all members of the Big Four are now fully in on the competition, but for Verizon, it might have suffered by failing to join in early.
