[Starlink] Re: Starlink looking less niche as its retail presence expands

[Inemesit Affia <inemesitaffia@gmail.com>]

Starlink is *advertised* as a rural product as opposed to relegated to one.
It's available to be used everywhere just like tractors and cow milking
machines.

In Africa, most users are urban. I'm willing to bet there are more
urban+suburban users in the USA and Australia.

There are many pockets of unavailability and unreliability.

I remember seeing a user in a new skyscraper. No mobile service there.

The benefit for users having retail(including online) availability IMO is
getting hardware & replacements on short notice. Same day or next day.

On Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 5:55 PM the keyboard of geoff goodfellow via Starlink
<starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net> wrote:

> *Starlink has nearly a dozen retail partners in the US, including Best Buy
> and Walmart, illustrating the company's desire to make the satellite
> service less of a niche, rural play. However, Starlink's subs still skew to
> rural areas.*
> EXCERPT:
>
> The Starlink satellite broadband service remains largely relegated to rural
> areas and does not yet represent a major, direct competitor to wireline
> broadband service providers and fixed wireless access (FWA) offerings in
> urban areas.
>
>
> But Starlink's expanding presence at retail sites – along with some recent
> price cuts – indicates the company isn't content for the service to be
> limited as a niche offering.
>
>
> Jeff Moore, principal of Wave7 Research and a watcher of marketing trends
> across the mobile, satellite and broadband landscapes, discovered back in
> March that Starlink was being sold broadly at Best Buy stores.
>
>
> "Since March, every single Best Buy that we have checked in every state has
> had a highly visible display for Starlink," Moore said, adding that most
> tend to be "endcap" displays placed at the end of aisles.
>
>
> And Starlink has been broadening its retail footprint. Citing
> Starlink's evolving
> list of retail partners
> <
> https://www.starlink.com/support/article/8a90222d-7c32-edd7-51f6-f696ece07105
> >,
> Moore points out that the service is also being sold by a mix of big-box
> stores and smaller outlets, including Home Depot, Nebraska Furniture Mart,
> West Marine, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's, Microcom, Thor Industries, Tractor
> Supply, Winegard Company and Walmart.
>
>
> But Starlink's retail presence is not exactly uniform. According to Wave7's
> in-person checks, Walmart, for example, has Starlink displays at some
> stores but not in others.
>
> Moore also points out that Starlink's retail presence is not limited to
> rural areas. "We're not seeing it slice that way at all," he said.
>
> Moore said Home Depot is getting more aggressive with Starlink, even if its
> displays are not exactly "glittering jewels of commercialism."
>
> "They're sort of non-descript displays. If you know what you're looking
> for, you can find it," he said.
>
> That said, Starlink is a "priority" for Home Depot this year and "sales
> have been strong," Moore said, citing information from what he says is a
> well-placed source familiar with the chain. However, the lion's share of
> those sales have been online rather than in-store, he added.
>
> So, what to make of Starlink's increased focus on retail? Moore thinks it's
> a way for Starlink to gravitate away from being a "niche" product into more
> of a mass-market product.
>
> Retail partnerships give Starlink another sales channel without having to
> shell out millions to erect its own physical storefronts. However, the
> retail experience, particularly at big-box stores, can be lackluster.
>
> Roger Entner, founder and analyst at Recon Analytics, said his data shows
> that satisfaction with the sales process at big-box retailers is "abysmal,"
> driving negative net promoter scores (NPS). Meanwhile, most Starlink sales
> occur online.
>
>
> *Who are Starlink's customers?*
> Starlink, which relies on a constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO)
> satellites, reported in July that it has more than 2 million active
> customers in the US. By comparison, its geosynchronous (GEO) satellite
> broadband competitors – Hughes Network Systems and Viasat – are much
> smaller and losing subscribers.
>
> Hughes lost 34,000 subs in Q2 2025, ending with 819,000. Viasat's base of
> fixed broadband subs has dipped to 172,000. Just this week, EchoStar execs
> said Hughes Network Systems is pivoting to the enterprise market
> <
> https://www.lightreading.com/satellite/echostar-execs-dish-on-company-s-forced-pivot-and-the-path-forward
> >
> as the residential side of its satellite business remains in decline.
>
> "Hughes and Viasat are still running TV advertising. They're still a
> competitive and viable option but losing share pretty rapidly." Moore said.
>
> Some Viasat and Hughes customers are defecting to Starlink, but most of
> Starlink's customers are leaving small rural telcos and cable operators for
> the satellite operator, Entner said. Overall, more than 85% of Starlink's
> customers come from rural areas, while the rest are suburban, according to
> Recon Analytics data.
>
>
> *Service and equipment price cuts*...
>
> [...]
>
> https://www.lightreading.com/satellite/starlink-looking-less-niche-as-its-retail-presence-expands
>
> --
> Geoff.Goodfellow@iconia.com
> living as The Truth is True
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