EndlessDissent
Well-known member
Would it be that hard to make a new WiMax phone or a new dual WiMax/4G phone?
Yes. It would. Part of the reason for the massive adoption of LTE on the major carriers is that current SoCs are built with LTE radios and antennae in mind, whereas that does not exist with Wimax. Sprint would have to shell out money for Samsung or HTC or Qualcomm or whoever to develop a compatible Wimax chip. That's not just extra R&D costs, either. That's extra production costs and a much lower profit margin when, as you've already pointed out, Sprint is already struggling to stay afloat. It's not worth the costs. Plus, it would just create more confusion with customers wondering what's the difference between Wimax and "4G" if they're capable of the same speeds, which one's better, which will drain the battery more, etc. It would just be a huge mess for everyone involved.