In just 2 quarters, Sprint will sell 3 million EVO and Epic 4G phones, says research

ABI Research today made a bold prediction regarding WiMAX adoption in the United States: that Sprint will sell nearly 3 million WiMAX-capable smartphones by the end of 2010.

"Sprint's 4G smartphone sales have been partially responsible for its recent subscriber growth. ABI Research forecasts that the carrier will ship almost three million 4G handsets for its WiMAX network by the end of 2010,"
ABI Research director Philip Solis said in a statement today. "That number is greater than many observers expected."

If this prediction proves accurate, it means that the only two WiMAX smartphones available --the HTC EVO 4G, and the Samsung Epic 4G-- are selling like crazy.

Based upon Sprint's total postpaid CDMA subscriber base at the end of the third quarter, ABI's prediction means that 12% of Sprint subscribers will be using one of those two phones.

This is noteworthy for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they have only been available for a limited time: the EVO 4G has been available for purchase since June, and the Epic 4G only went on sale a little less than two months ago.

Secondly, they are only available in ZIP codes where Sprint offers its 4G service, and the U.S.' most densely populated cities will only contribute to the growth for a short period of time before the year ends. The most densely populated city, New York City, only just went live this week, and Los Angeles, number two in population, is expected to go live some time in the next month. In its third quarter report, Sprint said its WiMAX network would cover an area including 120 million people.

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