During the E3 conference last week, an analyst overheard an Amp'd employee say the 22,000 figure I reported last week was a bit high. The real number of subscribers six months post-launch is closer to 5,000, according to Jupiter Research analyst Julie Ask's blog. I'm with Ask: Customer acquisition is "very, very hard," especially for a new entrant like Amp'd. Perhaps more interesting, however, is not the end result but the new approach. Ask observed that the MVNO's marketing pamphlets are promoting a $99 unlimited minutes forever plan with "free" handsets (never really free). The approach is an age old one that incumbent carriers know and use well, but coming from a "mobile media company" like Amp'd the tactic is surprising, not to mention disheartening, for the mobile content sector.
For more information and analysis of Amp'd:
- see this blog entry [1] at the Jupiter Research site
Links:
[1] http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/analysts/ask/archives/015403.html