The Days of Cheap, Subsidized Phones May Be Numbered 329
In the U.S., subsidized phones are the norm: for post-paid, long-term contract use, getting a low up-front price on a phone is one of the few upsides. New submitter Apptopia writes "After T Mobile mostly did away with subsidized phone plans, the other major carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint) are paying attention. Carriers lose money with phone subsidies for high-end smartphones (particularly Apple's iPhone). If they do away with the subsidy, you will have to pay full retail price for phones, but your monthly bill will be lower." If people had a better idea what they were paying for, though, manufacturers might fight harder on price. There are lots of well-reviewed, multi-band, unlocked phones on Amazon and DealExtreme from lesser-known companies, and Nokia's new Asha 501 (though limited in many ways, including availability, having just launched in India) shows that the "smartphone" label can apply even to a sub- $100 phone.
Not numbered. More declining. (Score:5, Interesting)
The US phone market is just going the way of the European phone market. You'll still be able to get a contract and subsidised handset if you want, but you can also get a SIM only deal and bring your own handset.
Not everyone can afford to drop £500 on a phone outright so there are many people who still go down the contract route.
The SIM only deals will be split into two. Either you top up the SIM at the beginning of the month and get a bunch of texts and data - or you can get a contract for your SIM which gives you a load of minutes, data and texts for a monthly fee.
Last time I had access to a network operators stats (4 years ago), customers on contract were about 51% of the total base. I wouldn't be surprised if SIM only is now the majority.
Re:confused (Score:5, Interesting)
It obviously depends on how much you use your phone. I own a prepaid 10€ stupidphone good enough for being reachable and making emergency calls. I buy a new 25€ credit about once in four months. As a matter of fact, I can't even remember the last time I payed cash.
Maybe I'm the exception (and I'm a man so I don't need to have hourly chats with my friends every day). But I'm connected to the Internet all the time at work and at home 24/7. People say PC's are dying because of Smartphones and Tablets. For me it's the other way around. I feel I don't need a Smartphone or Tablet because I always have a PC with Internet nearby. And when I'm commuting, or going for a walk, or sitting in the park I'm quite thankful for not having any high tech around to distract me from nature, my thoughts or a good book.
Re:confused (Score:2, Interesting)
Exactly. "Cheap" subsidized phones?? More like expensive subsidized phones.
It's like saying a normal bachelor house is "cheap" because your first payment is only $1... even though the following payments are $20k for 20 years.
Re:High end phones have always been $650 (Score:5, Interesting)
I would say, only an idiot would spend $300+ on a china unknown brand without any kind of warranty and not even any test. Most devices like the one you describe won't ever get any OS upgrade anytime soon (or even CM), and generally have pretty low end components, like a very low response touchscreen, weak battery, etc...
$300+ for a chinese unknown device when you can get a Google Nexus 4 for $299, who's the idiot there...
Re: an interesting perspective... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: straight talk payback period (Score:5, Interesting)
I bought my wife an iphone 5 for christmas to use on straight talk. Compared to a $75 per month subsidized plan, the payback period was 14months. There have been some hassles with MMS (which has been a bit of a big deal), and no LTE (yet), but that's fine because it turns the telco into a commodity (which is what we want).
Additionally, if you watch the deal sites, you'll sometimes see 6 month refill cards for $220. That takes the monthly cost down to $36, which is right where I am willing to pay.