Sprint CEO Calls the iPhone the ‘Michael Jordan’ of Phones

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, in an interview with Charlie Rose:

Rose: Is the Palm Pre making a dent into the iPhone market?

Hesse: Aaah… It’s doing well, but you can almost put the iPhone, to be fair, in a separate category. The Apple brand and that device have done so well, it’s almost not… it’s like comparing someone to Michael Jordan.

This is one of the worst answers he could have given. Even just plain “No” would have been better than comparing the iPhone to Jordan, which suggests that Hesse doesn’t believe they can compete. He could have simply said that the iPhone has a two-year head start, and Sprint is happy with how the Pre is doing three months in.

★ Monday, 14 September 2009