Wimax is still Alive with Clearwire! The migration to LTE has not stopped Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) from introducing two new WiMAX products, something that Clearwire partner Sprint (NYSE:S) already has said it will no longer do.
Clearwire this week announced two new hotspot products to go with the network that is on its way out. The Clear Hub Express is a combination WiMAX hotspot and Wi-Fi router to enable easy connections for homes and offices. It costs $99. The other new product is the $124 Clear Spot Voyager, which link up to eight devices with WiMAX. It has six hours of battery life.
Sprint said last month that it would no longer support WiMAX in new devices, sending the message that it is all about LTE from now on. Clearwire's move is a reminder that the LTE migration may not exactly happen overnight. It also might be encouraging for current WiMAX customers to hear that they still have choices for new devices, even though WiMAX future is limited. Whether or not they feel the current WiMAX network is worth continuing to buy new devices for is a whole other story.