san diego. 11:00 a.m. here on wall street, "squawk alley" is live. ♪ good monday morning, welcome to "squawk alley." john steinberg, ceo of the daily mail. kaylee toul is out today public first up this morning, we have apple, according to research, by slice intelligence, about one million apple watches were preordered on friday. the first day they were available. josh lipton is live in san

francisco with more on that for us, good morning, josh. >> good morning, carl. so i ordered my apple watch, like people all over the world, i am going to have to wait a while before that smart watch actually arrives. so delivery dates on almost all models we know were rapidly pushed out on friday morning. now apple is not saying how many watches were sold, but analysts estimate that the new product is off to a strong start. nearly one million people in the u.s. preordered the watch on friday. that's according to slice intelligence, which tracks spending through ereceipt data. to put that in context, according to ka nals, only some 700,000 android wearing devices shipped, that was in 2014. as for those ordering the apple watch, 60% ordering the less expensive sport model and most opted for the case. what about tim cook? which model does he wear?

the apple's ceo told me when i caught up with him on friday. >> you know, i'm wearing the apple watch stainless, with the white floral band. and i love it. i exercise in it and wear it most of the day. but i've got a couple of other bands too, i also like to change them out. >> now the streets expectations for the watch are still relatively modest. analysts on average think apple is going to ship 14 million units this year, bulls argue though that as apple works on the features and functions and developers start designing killer apps, sales of the watch could surge. carl, back to you. >> all right, thank you so much, josh, as we the watching game begins so to speak. joining with us more, cantor fitzgera fitzgerald, brian white, good morning to you. >> good morning, carl. >> everybody was out over the weekend visiting the stores trying to gauge how the experience is for people trying it on. when it comes to production, how many of these can they make and

how quickly? >> well, we've always said, you know, we think they have ambitions that are much greater than our model reflect. so, you know, for fiscal '16, we've got 25 million units, and i think they have ambitions that are much higher than that. so what i like to see this weekend is lead time stretching into june, that's great. apple doesn't want june shipments, and that tells me they were surprised in the upside this weekend. >> brian, based on what you're hearing and seeing in the stores, what's your sense of who's most interest, enthralled with the watch. i was there at the fifth avenue store at the sort of launch on friday. i went back on saturday night with my wife to check it out at around 10:30 p.m., they said no appointments were available to try it on, but we were still able to try it on immediately. my wife was. and there weren't a ton of people who were in the store who were looking at the watch. there were a lot of people in the store, but they were looking at other things, what do you make of that?

>> well, i think they did something a little bit different this year. because it's a different product, category. and that is you go into the store, try something on. normally, you preorder like an iphone, you preorder when it's available, you go into the store, you can buy in the store and that's usually ten days later or something. this week's totally different, and i agree, i don't think, you know, the stores are packed when i went there. but i think people realize you order online, i think on the 24th, you'll see more people in the stores. that's the time you can actually buy, not just preorder, but buy. >> brian, the slice data, which i'm skeptical of because again it uses a small segment of ereceipt data. 62% ordered the sport model, which is the cheaper model. do you think analysts have to adjust for the average selling price that'll be generated? how does it impact your model right now? >> well, you know, we have 60%. apple watch sport. and we have about 36% apple watch and 4% apple watch edition. i think it's in line with what

we're expecting. i would say this, we have to remember, you know, this data that's being quoted as u.s. data. and we were just over in china last week, and i could tell you that people in china and hong kong are very, very curious about the apple watch. and the price, you know, at the low end 349, u.s., will not prevent people in china from buying. in fact, i think on the apple watch edition, i would not be surprised if they sell more apple watch editions in china, mainly china than anywhere else in the world. i think china's going to end up being the dark horse in this. if you look at lead times in china right now, they're very similar shipment dates in june to what we're seeing in the u.s. market. >> hey brian, the past week, raymond james and stock jen has downgraded it, why would they do that if people were excited and getting into wwdc and the period where capital districts would become a lot more clear? >> i think everyone's always trying to make a call on apple. and i think the right call is to

look at a company that's not only gaining share in their core businesses, they're entering a totally new product category that's very exciting. and the stock is still dirt cheap. you know, 10.5 times earning. i think that's the call, that's why we have $180 price target and trillion dollar market cap. >> is there a level at which? 128 today, is there a level that money comes back in? >> i think it's holding up very well here. if you think about, you know, in the face of all these downgrades and sometimes when you have a new, a product that comes out, the stock is sloppy afterwards. you're not seeing that today. i think those are all very good signs that the stock is ready to move on. >> brian, good to see you again. we'll see what the next few weeks bring. >> thanks. >> we'll see you with the delivery times as well. qualcomm is the other big story today. jana partners asked to spin off the chip unit and other measures

to boost its stock price. founder barry rosen seen it talked with david in the last hour, here's what he said. >> we are convinced that the board and the management recognize their issues. we're convinced that they are trying to do the right things, and we're optimistic that they're going to. you know, we have advocated a number of steps, not just to split up, in fact, what we think they ought to do is a transparent review of the businesses and determine whether or not it makes sense to do either a partial or a full split. we are not definitively saying that they should split it up. >> they have a $2 billion calling card. they want them to cut costs, increase the buybacks. >> the sense i get is that a lot of people in tech recognize that if qualcomm doesn't have the leverage that they have had, a lot of people saying to my, executives saying to me, when you look at the pressure that china has put on several tech companies, look at qualcomm separately because they've been

able to extract a level of licensing revenue that others have not, some people have argued that's unfair. i think it's interesting that this kind of pressure is coming on qualcomm after the stock was beaten down with the long dispute with china that was finally settled, but qualcomm has a history of doing some prudent things. they spun off the fleet tracking business to private equity about a year and a half ago for just under $1 billion. we'll see what they do here. i can't quite see exactly what the rational is from a strategic perspective given that the licensing business helped fund the creation of the chit business that they traditionally needed that financial support. what happens if you actually break them into separate businesses? bill rosen seen it saying he's not exactly say that. >> this is a stretch. stockholders should be able to diversify and companies don't need diversification. if you look at the company, 7% revenue growth. 17% non-gap growth, business with lots of more handsets

shipping and rational between flowing into the chips and property licensing, this is a little bit of a stretch. over the weekend, dan frooe mac had an interview that he talked about technology companies going public and you need to fortify yourself share base because the activists investors are so aggressive. i think this is a case where activism is overly aggressive. the case for splitting up a technology company here is odd to me. >> yeah, certainly, a lot of big names that haven't gone public have done exactly that. that's right. let's get to sue, we have details about a significant change in the sponsorship of the nba. >> indeed that is the case. there is a change, pepsi according to fortune is going to announce a little bit later today that it is taking over the nba rights for that contract. coke cola is choosing not to renew their contract at the end of the 2014-2015 season. coke says that they have $1 billion put towards its brand

over the next three years, and with this commitment comes the need to focus on the most effective and efficient investments to maximize its brand's growth. pepsi is stepping in as coke steps out of the nba. carl, back to you. >> thank you very much. we might look back on this in a few weeks or months and consider it a big deal, whether coke is moving to soccer, whether that says something about soccer, the nba, just about the turn of sponsorships in general. >> all of these non-trackable type of method lgs are very much kind of in the fray right now. the fact you see in digital, everything is accountable, everybody wants to show consummation, then television and magazines and these kind of things get something of a free ride. you know, you kind of throw your logo around, what does it do for you? i expect more and more brands to shift out of this just as out of television. i don't see what the sponsorships do for you. >> it's not measurable, right? >> not measurable. >> used to seeing numbers, shares behind things. i didn't necessarily associate

coke with the nba before, not that i watch every nba game, but i do wonder what this does for them. >> and the nba considered among the four majors, maybe the most socially savvy in some ways. certainly the most advanced when it came to twitter a few years ago. >> interesting to also see, pepsi has typically been a very kind of experimenting brand that does a lot in digital. interesting to see this if they tie, maybe the package is more interesting than a traditional sponsorship. >> find out more later on today. let's check in on the markets. dow's up 29 points. shares of netflix in the green. the firm's raising their target to 565. pandora, in this case game at spod if i was close to a deal to raise 400 million in funding. if that goes through, it would be valleyed at about $8.4 billion and pandora up about 5% earlier today. when we come back, why upgrade at a store when sprint is making house calls? the ceo of sprint will explain

on a first on cnbc interviews. live with some of the most important in the business, jeff smith will join us and more than two million views in less than 24 hours. how hillary clinton is counting on social media and what it means for her campaign in 2015. "squawk alley" is back in a moment. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours. turning dreamers into business owners. you can call mbut,allow... i have a wandering eye. i mean, come on. national gives me the control to choose any car in the aisle i want. i could choose you... or i could choose her if i like her more.

and i do. oh, the silent treatment. real mature. so you wanna get out of here? go national. go like a pro.

marco rubio reportedly announcing his candidacy for president. hillary clinton announcing hers in a video posted yesterday on

youtube. >> i'm getting ready to do something too. i'm running for president. >> that video already over two million views since going up yesterday afternoon. clinton also announcing her run on twitter in a tweet that's now been seen more than 12 million times. it's still early, but clinton clearly making a social media bet as part of her 2016 campaign. we'll see who's most better leveraged for all platforms, jon. >> the most interesting thing about this to me, she's also got more than two million views on facebook, on their native players. so you see facebook and youtube running so close together around 37, 38,000 almost shares on facebook. she's got subscribers on youtube. and facebook, you really need to be logged in order to see videos there, they're considering allowing you to videos not logged in. how much facebook do to youtube if they surge into that market and allow non-logged in users to

view them? >> that's got to be upsetting for them today. i don't know if there was confusion. didn't post it native to twitter. the other point is not a great web video in my opinion. starts after two minutes and 18 seconds, you don't see her until minute 1:30, when i watched it on our site, about to say i think they posted the wrong video. her social media strategy or her web strategy a little bit from the '90s. people have ach more attention span. it's got to be end, end, end. >> what second? >> within five to 15 seconds. >> i disagree. >> slow roms don't work on the web. >> she saw the video, she was begging me to watch it during the day, i was getting garden supplies, she was like look, she didn't put herself front and center. this is awesome. she's making it about other people. >> that's the political. >> four million views is not good. for a presidential -- is boring, people talked about what they were doing in the spring and her saying she's running for president. it's not great. >> we'll see what my wife says about the marco rubio video.

apparently this one is a win. >> always good getting your insight. >> good seeing you guys. up next, jeff smith joins us to talk about two big names he's involved in, darden and jha hoo. it's coming up next on "squawk alley." alerts you. warns you about incoming cross-traffic. cameras and radar detect dangers you don't. and it can even stop by itself. so in this crash test, one thing's missing: a crash. the 2015 e-class. see your authorized dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. so if you get a trade idea about, say, organic food stocks, schwab can help. with a trading specialist just a tap away. what's on your mind, lisa? i'd like to talk about a trade idea. let's hear it. [ male announcer ] see how schwab can help light a way forward. so you can make your move, wherever you are.

and start working on your next big idea. ♪ and start working on your next big idea. let'at your credit. >>i know i have a 786 fico score, thanks to all the tools and help on experian.com. so how are we going to sweeten this deal? floor mats... clear coats... >>you're getting warmer... leather seats... >>and this... my wife bought me that. get your credit swagger on. become a member of experian credit tracker and find out your fico score powered by experian. fico scores are used in 90% of credit decisions. the pursuit of healthier. it begins from the second we're born. after all, healthier doesn't happen all by itself. it needs to be earned... every day... from the smallest detail to the boldest leap.

healthier means using wellness to keep away illness... knowing a prescription is way more than the pills... and believing that a single life can be made better by millions of others. healthier takes somebody who can power modern health care... by connecting every single part of it. realizing cold hard data can inspire warmth and compassion... and that when technology meets expertise... everything is possible. for as long as the world keeps on searching for healthier... we're here to make healthier happen. optum. healthier is here.

active passers investors summit in new york. david favor is there joined by a perfect name for "squawk alley" this morning, hey david. >> thanks very much, carl, that's right, we are joined by jeff smith, of course he runs star board, and man, you have had an incredibly busy year. it was one year ago we sat down, we talked a lot about darden then, but there's been a lot of other activity, i want to start with yahoo. >> okay. >> and my question, jeff, is simply, why? why do you keep up the pressure on yahoo, a name that seems to be so picked over, not just by activist but it having come and gone, but returned a lot of

capital. why do you keep the pressure on? >> for us it's really about value and making sure we're doing the right thing for the company and the shareholders. as it relates to yahoo, if you add up the pieces, if you add up alibaba and yahoo japan and cash, that's worth more. plus you're still getting the operating business which has a billion dollars. it's not personal, it's not picking on the company, and i don't think anybody else is picking on the company, it's just about value. and if we can help the company, if we can help management in the board unlock that value and figure out how they can make some changes that improve value for the company, then that's good for shareholders. and we're a large shareholder. >> you seem to have, well i'm curious if you've changed your strategy with regard to yahoo. originally when you came, i believe it was, let's call it september of last year. it was about doing something with aol. forget if it was reverse trust, you wanted them to do that. you seem to have dropped that, but you haven't dropped yahoo. why no longer aol?

but why still focussed on the cost structure? >> well actually the priority at first was to separate out alibaba and take advantage of getting the full value without the double taxation. one of the best ways to do that, we felt, was to merge the operating business of yahoo with aol, thus leaving behind the alibaba stake in a tax efficient matter. >> of course they have done that in a tax-efficient man we are a plan to spend it on separate companies. >> they were able to figure out. we didn't know if this was possible, because we're not insiders. they were able to figure out how to do it in a forward way where they took their stake and going to spend out that out in a separate publicly traded vehicle. merging with aol has strategic benefits and something that can work, but the idea of putting them together now probably makes more sense after the alibaba spin happens. it's not that it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make as much sense right now.

>> what's going to satisfy you here? you have what, .82% position of the company. dollar wise it's not an insignificant sum, $4 billion fund, it's important for you, but you're not a huge shareholder here. >> well, we're one of the largest shareholders still. it's a large company. we're a front page holder of the company. we've had good conversations with the company, the most important thing really for yahoo at this point is to turn around the operations of the business. so if you look over the last several years, their revenue has actually been relatively flat, but their cash flow, it has gone down by $600 million. a lot of that is from the operating cost going up by $500 million. so, we want them to focus on improving the operations of the business. we want them to focus on also spinning off or doing something with yahoo japan. and you know, there's ip value, there's real estate value, there's other assets here. it's an incredibly attractive valued asset.

>> right, they were worried you were going to run a proxy fight, but you're not. >> you know, people often talk about us and say that we can only work through proxy contests, but more often than not, we work with companies constructively and we're having a good dialogue and hope to continue to have good results with them. >> one place where you did run a proxy fight and had a full and complete victory was darden. you got a new ceo now, right? >> yes. >> you're on the board obviously and everybody along with you. what's going on at that company right now? it seems to be doing quite well. some would say, it's simple lay fact that gasoline -- simply a fact that gasoline prices are down and people have more money to spend. >> that certainly helps, and better weather helps. dard season performing better than the rest of the restaurant industry. it's not all weather and gas. we did put gene lee in place as the new ceo. he's doing fantastic. >> why? >> he's focussed on the

operations of the business and making sure we're focussed on the guest first. and that's pervaded through the organization, and the organization is doing a terrific job. one of the things that i'm most proud of is what happened here at darden, we were successful really the first to be successful of replacing the entire board at darden. but with that, what's amazing is that the, the relationship between the matters and team and the board, from the first weeks has been incredible. so in this situation, you know, some people fear when you get involved in a company, if you're replacing a majority or replace the whole thing you might have this issue working with the management team. it's just not true. this relationship with this management team has been incredible. and we continue to perform very, very well, and work well with them. >> yeah. >> you know, when we were doing our ceo search before we chose gene as the ceo, we went out and did a full search. there were some candidates that were nervous about meeting with

me as the head of the search committee. at first, based on us running a contest. >> sure. it was a nasty contest. >> right, right. and then what actually happened is both candidates, two times, called people they knew inside of darden, this was within weeks of us getting involved, then they wanted to speak with me. and the reason they wanted to speak with me is they said, we spoke to each individually spoke to people inside darden, and said the feedback they were getting from management about how well the board was working, how well we were working with them, how we were focussed on just doing the right thing for the company and improving the company for the best interest of shareholders and the employees, really impressed them. and they said, they needed to meet with us and they needed to understand what the opportunity was. both people really don't understand what happens inside a board, you really do work very well with the management team and really do try to create value by improving the operations of the business. >> finally, let me end on staples and office depot. significant positions for star

board, of course, you were asking for a deal, it happened, it's unclear whether they were thinking about it prior to that, doesn't matter, the question now is are they any trust regulators going to approve it? do you have confidence they're going to proceed? >> we do. we still own our positions in both office depot and staples. and we believe it's likely that it goes through. >> you do? >> we do. >> you think they will define the market as having included a lot more than simply office superstores? >> they designed the market on the office depot, office max transaction which was just over a year ago. and based on those definitions, we do believe, although you can't be sure, you should think it should go through. >> jeff, that's all time we have. once a year we get you. appreciate it. >> thank you very much. >> jeff smith from starboard, back to you. >> thanks very much. simon hobbs here to wrap up the european close today on this monday, hey simon.

>> hey carl. the rally slowed, the bulk of the market's down. but you don't see that from the headline figures. don't forget, up 20% year to date on the stock 600. what's interesting now is the european central bank which has a meeting on wednesday may find that as a result of the move on the euro, it's actually in a position where they have to lay down, talk the taper early before 2016. just above, almost negative overall, not negative, but on the verge of going negative. the global minders listed in london have had a bad day today. downgrade from citi, because of oar prices. angela merkel in particular. and s&p angle because of the negative watches. . you see those guys have had a bad day. in frankfurt, however, volkswagen stopped not really

moving despite the fact that its chairman, ferdinand peach is looking isolated. you probably saw on friday he criticized martin over the weekend, you had porsche, 51% shareholder and vw coming through with support for the ceo, another big shareholder, and the labor unions. extraordinary to have such -- in public. there you go, the chairman looks great. great move over the last year. finally let me mention what's happening with okay in ya. continuing to get gains on these stocks as you can see, on this idea that nokia may sell the unit for maybe 4 billion yur owe rows with this be mean turn with a possible deal down the line. we believe they had negotiations before, markets running with that idea, back to you. >> thanks simon. coming up, hbo's new over the top service is only a week

old, but it's already passed one major test. we'll explain in a moment. plus if you're a sprint customer, upgrading your phone can be as easy as sitting on the couch. the ceo is with us in our first on cnbc interview to explain a little later on this hour. "squawk alley" will be right back. but what if you could see more of what you wanted to know? with fidelity's new active trader pro investing platform, the information that's important to you is all in one place, so finding more insight is easier. it's your idea powered by active trader pro. another way fidelity gives you a more powerful investing experience. call our specialists today to get up and running. if you're looking for a car that drives you...

...and takes the wheel right from your very hands... ...this isn't that car. the first and only car with direct adaptive steering. ♪ the 328 horsepower q50, from infiniti. it's more than tit's security - and flexibility. it's where great ideas and vital data are stored. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions from a trusted it partner. including cloud and hosting services - all backed by an industry leading broadband network and people committed to helping you grow your business. you get a company that's more than just the sum of it's parts. centurylink. your link to what's next.

everyone, i'm sue herera. a bomb placed at a garbage bin targeted the moroccan embassy. it damaged the front gate and residential building next door. no one was injured, but a group who claims loyalty to isis says they were behind that attack. out of control wild fires in russia, siberia, killed at least 15 people and injured hundreds more. the firs have left 5,000 people homeless, 6,000 firefighters are battling that blaze. 19 passengers suffered injuries when a double decker bus heading from chicago to atlanta struck the back of a stopped semitruck in indiana. the truck stopped because of construction, but this is the fourth crash involving a megabus

in indiana since october. underground electrical fire is being blamed for an explosion that sent a manhole cover flying more than 200 feet above a buffalo street. the event was captured bay television photographer. a man was being interviewed on the street when that blast occurred. scary stuff. and that's our cnbc news update this hour, let's get back to "squawk alley." s than for th thanks for tha. the premier of "game of thrones" debuting on hbo now with no apparent major problems at all. julia borstone is live. it was as flawless as it appears. >> there were no technical glitches for the highly anticipated launch, also no complaints of buffering on hbo go which is the service for tv subscribers, hbo does have a havoc on its hands. the first four episodes of the

"game of thrones" leaked to piracy network late saturday. that's the day before the show was set to premier. it was not the result of a hack. the company is saying the episodes originated within a group to receive them, which sounds like press screeners. the company saying quote, we're actively assessing how this breach occurred. by 5:00 p.m. eastern yesterday, before the show aired, it had been downloaded or recorded 1.7 million times, according to the ceo. we'll see if that impacted viewership. they look to build a weekly audience, netflix released daredevil around the world. netflix does not share viewer numbers, we may get commentary on demand for the show. netflix shares flying higher this morning on a bullish, number of bullish analysts notes including ubs upgrading netflix

to $565 from $370. plus netflix just filed to seek shareholder approval to increase share authorization as an indication that is shares split could be in the works, carl. >> yeah, a lot of those things at work today, julia. the ubs upgrade is 70 pages long. it goes way, way deep into consumer economics and their willingness to pay for streaming which they argue, bodes well, ginn the kind of content that netflix is putting up there and the kind of reviews it's getting. >> yeah, looking at netflix and how they've managed to continue attracting subscribers aside from hikes. apparently people are signing up for it. that does bode well overall. you have to wonder what the adoption curve is like. so many unknowns here, everybody who we talked to on this show who's in hollywood, the actors are excited about the possibilities that get opened up for creative expression and certainly within these niches,

people seem eager to get their hands on the content, and you're not hearing a lot of people complaining about the fact that they have to pay for it. >> 48147, looks like a new high after all its been through over the last few years. julia, thanks to you. when we come back, want to upgrade your phone? now you can without leaving the house. ceo of sprint is with us to explain in just a moment. you can call me shallow...

but, i have a wandering eye. i mean, come on. national gives me the control to choose any car in the aisle i want. i could choose you... or i could choose her if i like her more. and i do. oh, the silent treatment. real mature. so you wanna get out of here? go national. go like a pro.

truth. huge week of earnings ahead. will they be as bad as people think? all locked in a battle over female consumers, who is leading the competition and who could win it? plus everyone wants to know how to play rises rates. we are here with a basket of stocks designed to do just that. john, we'll see you in about 20. >> all right, thanks, scott. upgrading and activating mobile device is a service customers seek out at retail locations. starting today, sprint customers and sprint's hometown of kansas city are going to be able to receive delivery, and set up right in their homes. david favor joins us from the investor's summit in new york with a special guest. david. >> thanks very much. thanks vvp, jon. of course this has nothing to do with activism, in fact has everything to do with sprint, and that man right there, marcell low clara, the company's ceo, marcell low, thank you for being with us. tell me about sprint direct to you, why is the company choosing

to do this and isn't it going to be awfully expensive to send out 5,000 cars to visit people all over the country to set them up on their phone? >> hi david, thanks for having me. this is direct use something we've been thinking for the last three months. and we've been listening to our customers who tell us it's a painful experience sometimes when they visit in stores. they would like to have a different type of experience and a experience where the customer gets to choose when do they want to get their cell phone and where do they want to get it? do they want it in their home, office, do they want to get it in a starbucks, a bar, the customer will choose and then a expert will go, deliver a phone, will train the person how to use it. and i think will make this experience seamless. when you ask a question about expenses, we've been analysis that this is going to be the lowest cost of the operation that we will have. this is significantly lower than

basically transacting in a company on store or a third party retailer. >> that's interesting. why is that the case? because it would seem having this roving team of people setting things up would end up being more expensive. i'm just curious to the extent that you can share why actually it would not be a more expensive option, but as you just said, one that is more efficient? >> well, you've got to look at expenses in two ways. one is customer satisfaction, we believe that if you visit a customer at home or in their office and you get an experience that they have never experienced, but we like to call it a wow experience, those customers are going to be satisfied, they want to stay with sprint longer and they're going to basically represent sprint to the families, an experience like this has never been offered. secondly, what we've been able to do is self-contract companies, and this is basically a variable cost for us. we pay for each experience, so the cars are not under sprint

ownership, we're paying a third party to provide those services, the employees of that third party will go through rigorous training, rigorous screening, we've developed a comprehensive syllabus in terms of what we're expecting from those employees. >> i notice in your press release, you say qualified customers receive an offer. via text or e-mail, what makes somebody a qualified customer? >> well qualified customer is the first space. and we're launching this today in our hometown, in kansas city, on april 20th, we're going to launch in chicago, and throughout the course of the year, we're going to launch the rest of the united states. what we mean by qualified customers is the first couple of weeks, we're basically going to do upgrades, they will be sprint customers who are going to upgrade their phone. after that, going to be able to be at&t, verizon, or t-mobile customer that can come to our website, sign up for service, choose direct to you, set up the

time, set up the location, and we're going to show in the place that they choose whenever they want us to be there. we're going to give them an experience they have never had before. >> tell me if i understand this correctly, you have around 1,100 retail locations now. part of the reason why you believe that this is an efficient way to go forward is it sounds like you don't think you'll have to expand your physical locations and you'll be able to contract out, get people who you're paying on an operational basis to go out and serve as customers. is this signaling the end of physical store expansion to do wireless at sprint under your vision? is this mobile more paid per interaction model going to be the future? >> i mean, we're expanding on both. i mean, this week, we announced we're expending to 1,400 radio

shack stores, now they'll be sprint/radio shack. we're doubling and we expect to handle about 5,000 cars. they are mobile stores. and you know, when you look at sprint at any given point in time, we had one-third less company on the stores that are failures, so we basically had to do the transaction to put us on par to the competitors, and we're going to expand to 5,000 cars to here from the end of the year. the reason is simple, i don't know, david, when was the last time you went to a store, if you want to switch from one carrier to another, it can take in excess of 45 minutes to an hour. and as we know, time is our most precious obstacle and customers are telling us, if there was a way to do a switch, we want to do it in our home, a place where we don't have to sit in a store. that's number one, number two, we want have people to order online, when you get it delivered by ups or fedex and you have the box.

and i don't know about you, but it is hard or it basically when you transfer all of contacts, all your apps, all your photos, all your videos, and it's even harder to basically learn all the features that the phones have. imagine having somebody show up in your house, allow you to basically, it will do all the transfer of all your relevant content, at the same time, spending 15 minutes pitching you what are the newest things that the phone can do. so we don't base on listening to our customers, i personally when i did it myself on friday. went to a customer, and i can tell you, the customer was incredibly satisfied. and then, they were referring those to other type of customers. traditionally, you don't get many people that get wowed, i believe this is one of those moments. >> right. all of course all of it designed to essentially reduce turn.

you have done a good job of slowing customer defections, but in the last quarter, lost 200,000 post paid, do you believe you're going to turn the corner at sprint and not become the fourth largest carrier in the country as opposed to the third? >> i mean, like i said before, you know, we're in the focus of being the second, third, or fourth. we're focussing on building in a profitable business for sprint. in the first three quarters of the year, we have lost, lost 700,000 subscribers, the last quarter we basically added about 30,000 post paid subscribers, it's nice that we stop losing customers, customer defection was a big issue. and we feel extremely good to where it's going. customer satisfaction has increased. we have the highest gross in history, the last quarter that we report. so i think, you know, we're on the right track. this is a marathon. you know, we've done the first sprint, and i feel good in terms

of where we are. last week has been a very busy week, as you know, we are now expanding radio shack, launching direct to you, we announced international roaming meaning customers can travel to latin america, europe, and they don't have to pay when they roam in those countries. and last we announced that there's an iphone to do wi-fi calling anywhere in the u.s. or when they travel over 200 different countries. when you see is a company that is listening to the customers. listening to what customers want, and romming out solutions that are satisfying our customers. >> right, and continuing to improve the network. we'll be checking in over time as we said, and you've been good to your word as well. we appreciate you joining us today. you're very well, ceo of sprint. back to you. >> thanks. fascinating experiment combination of delivery and

on-demand customer service. well, when we come back, make your own videos? our own guest is making it easier and cheaper than ever. we'll tell you now just a moment, "squawk alley" will be right back. and . . . exhale. . . aflac! and a gentle wavelike motion... ahhh- ahhhhhh. liberate your spine... ahhh-ahhhhhh......aflac! and reach, toes blossoming... not that great at yoga. yeah, but when i slipped a disk he paid my claim in just one day. ahh! so he had your back? yep. in just one day, we approve and pay. one day pay, only from aflac. [duck snoring]

welcome back. editing software company avid is announcing a new free version of its software as demand for creating and consuming video content continues to grow. this comes as the company continues to expand its growth in 3d space as well. joining us is avid chairman,

president, and ceo, lewis hernandez jr. lewis, i want to ask you, avid was non-linear video editing for a long time. owning the category, it's changed so much over time though, and you guys had continued to sell a high-end solution. is now the time when all bets are off? you are going to do mobile apps, you guys are going to do the model all over the place? >> absolutely. well, you know avid as you just mentioned in many ways started the digittization of the entire industry. took film, converted to a digital file record and allowed you to do things that weren't imagined. back then, we converted back to analog and continued its journey to the movie athleter. >> today, everything has changed. the relationship between the creative process and consumption is entirely digitized. and now you can bring these two people together, more powerfully than ever. the other thing that's happened, everybody has a chance to tell their story now, from an individual to the largest global media operations in the world. and essentially, that's what

avid's participating, it's created an ecosystem, an operating system so that anybody can participate. from the largest media companies in the world, to the most creative independent performers. as you mentioned, we just launched the free version of the hands-down most used media editing software in the world, available so that anybody can now tell their story. >> how much of a consumer product can it become? if i'm a lame person and i like edits with imovie, are you reaching down to that level? >> i'll tell you what's interesting, everybody's a story teller and consumption of rich media has just gone crazy, but the problem is the economics of the model have changed radically, and what's happened with distribution technology, collaborative cloud technology, you can include the entire community and story telling to inspire, to inform, to educate. absolutely. if what we want to do is allow anybody to tell their story and participate in the ecosystem, so

if at abc or cnbc wants to take a story that's being created bay local in a rich, media environment and incorporate it, we want that to be seamless and easy. and it allows you to engage easier and also allows everybody the right to tell their story. whether or not it's music, gaming, film, or television, those are the main categories avid operates in. we're now opening up the ecosystem for everybody to contribute. >> tell me more about the economics behind this, on one hand, you do have the imovies of the world, on the other hand, you have adobe with its creative cloud that's making it easy for people to try out the software and pay for what they want to use. given that those two big companies are offering rivals to you, how do you make a compelling value proposition that makes people stick up for your platform instead of going to one of them? >> well first of all, we have the standard in the industry. about 100% of any major film studio uses avid today.

any ace award, all the major oscars, every grammy, they're using avid software. 70% of broadcast television, 70% of paid content today on the music side, all your favorite movies that you see and watch and enjoy are predominantly using avid for the most part. we swept the ace awards this year, speaking of major motion film. the issue is for the industry, the large enterprises is the business is changing fairly dramatically because content creation and consumption is going crazy, but modernizing the assets have changed radically. engaging with your community easier, lowering of using standards and allowing for global collaboration is what it's all about. when you move down to the second and individual level. it's a little bit different. because here, these folks didn't have a way to participate and use the most advance tools in the world because it wasn't priced and packaged for them. the way we're competing is hey, we're offering the best, priced and packaged for you.

low monthly fee and subscription, or now start out for free and escalate up, as you decide to participate in the media ecosystem. >> well louis, thanks, we will see what the uptake of that is in a very exciting area of video, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. when we come back, music site spotify could be in for more money. we'll explain when the dow in 14, don't go away. r? r? what if one push up could prevent heart disease? [man grunts] one wishful thinking, right? but there is one step you can take to help prevent another serious disease- pneumococcal pneumonia. one dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you ... from pneumococcal pneumonia, an illness that can cause coughing, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and may even put you in the hospital. prevnar 13 ® is used in adults 50 and older to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. you should not receive prevnar 13 ® if you've had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients if you have a weakened immune system, you may have a lower response to the vaccine.

common side effects were pain, redness, or swelling at the injection site. limited arm movement, fatigue, head ache muscle or joint pain, less appetite, chills, or rash. even if you've already been vaccinated with another pneumonia vaccine, prevnar 13® may help provide additional protection. get this one done. ask your healthcare professional about prevnar 13® today. anything worth pursuing hard work and a plan. at baird, we approach your wealth management strategy the same way to create a financial plan built to last from generation to generation. we'll listen. we'll talk. we'll plan. baird. mileageplus® explorer card. we're saving our united miles... ...for a trip to hawaii. we love free checked bags. i've saved $75 in checked bag fees. no foreign transaction fees means real savings. we can go to any country and spend money the way we would in the u.s. one of the best things about priority boarding is you can just get on the plane and relax. i put everything on the explorer card. i really want my united miles.

dovisit tripadvisor new york. with millions of reviews and the best hotel prices... book your next trip at tripadvisor.com today. so open an account with schwab. and when a market move affects, say, a cloud computing stock you're holding, we can help you decide what to do. with tools that help you see how market activity is affecting your positions. so when the time comes to decide whether to scale in or scale out... you can make your move, wherever you are. and start working on your next big idea. ♪

music streaming site spotify reportedly nearing a deal to raise $400 million in new funding taking its evaluation to $8.4 billion. comes on the heels of launch of title, jay-z's streaming service and rumor that apple may be pursuing taylor swift. pandora had a nice gain premarket up almost 5%, currently hanging on to a 2% gain. nowhere near the highs after the ipo long ago. >> fascinating. it's getting really expensive to acquire new users it seems from the music streaming game with money from apple and others coming in. it'll be interesting to see whether jay-z's title actually changes the economics of this, forcing prices higher, forcing people to really want to pay a premium for early contact with that stuff.

>> and speaking of streaming, we said earlier netflix would have a new high, that would be a new closing high. we're about $1.50 away from a high on netflix of course after two upgrades and two training sessions. that does it here on "squawk alley." let's head over to scott wapner and the half. and thank you very much, welcome to the halftime show, let's meet our star lineup for today, jim laichb that will is the president of laichb that will management. investment partners, josh brown is the ceo of the management and pete is the co-founder of auction monster. he as always is on the floor of the new york stock exchange. looked like this, banken to with jpmorgan and wells kicking off earnings tomorrow. which names you should own right now. motif of the month, how best