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The Days of Cheap, Subsidized Phones May Be Numbered
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.
It's always been cheaper to buy a phone outright and not have a contract
Who gets a new phone every month? I still have a Blackberry 9700 and that does everything that I need.
liberare massarum ex ignorantia, clausa descendit molestie.
...but bizarrely distorted from reality.
telcos and their allegedly-"subsidised" phones are the reason why phones are still so ridiculously expensive. they remove the normal effects of competition in the tech market-place, so we're still paying $600-$1000 for a current gen phone just as we were 10 or 15 years ago.
every other tech device - including extremely similar devices, tablets - have come down in price at least four-fold if not ten-fold over the same time period.
phones remain expensive to buy outright because the customers that the phone manufacturers are targetting are their largest customers, the telcos. if new phones were cheap to buy outright, people would be far less inclined to sign up for abusive two year contracts to get a hire-purchase phone (not "free" and not "subsidised" - the price is embedded in your contract)
As long as I can remember from the late 90's living in Europe
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.
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4 Line mobile share on AT&T i pay $266 with taxes for 10gb data and unlimited minutes And texts
T mobile it's $100 plus $40 for the 2gb data add on for each phone plus $80 for the phone payments plus taxes which are almost $10 per line per month
And t mobile I have to wait 2 years to upgrade. AT&T gives me a discount on iPhone upgrades after 6 months and a full subsidy after 18
Part of the reason for subsidies is the disjointed, non-standardized nature of the US cellular network. Paying full price for a phone is much more tolerable to me if I can jump ship to any other carrier that I want, like I could in most countries.
But, today, if I bought an unlocked GSM phone, to use on AT&T, and then a year from now wanted to switch carriers, my choices are hampered by that lack of standardization. That phone is -- essentially -- worth only half as much because it only works on half the carriers (the GSM carriers, as opposed to the CDMA carriers).
IMHO, that problem needs to be resolved before this works as a next step.
Are people really that stupid? There are plenty of comparisons showing how much money you save by going prepaid vs subsidized phone.
That means the extra money is going into the carriers' pocket.
That extra money means they're losing money...?! [shakes head at state of math among reporters]
If they do away with the subsidy, you will have to pay full retail price for phones, but your monthly bill will be lower.
It's cute that you think that monthly bills will be lower if people are required to pay full price for their phones...
Here in the UK, we often get ripped off for computers, software and electronics (usually priced as $1=£1*) so its nice to know that there are some things where we have it better than the USA.
Currently paying £13 per month for 200 minutes of voice, 5000 texts and pseudo-unlimited data (HSPA+ in most places). One-month rolling contract, bring-your-own phone. (I don't use much voice - it would be another £12/month for 2000 minutes). Bundled phone contracts are still the norm (at the end of the contract you can usually keep the phone and negotiate a reduced rate) but all the carriers offer SIM-only plans.
(* some of which is down to sales tax, but not all).
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
Of course a possible side effect (and a good one from an e-waste point of view) is that people would hold onto their old phones longer. I see this as a good thing.
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.
Firefox is getting into the cellphone market with a $50 phone. In a year all this arguing over $600 phones may be over. http://www.zdnet.com/firefox-os-puts-a-good-50-smartphone-within-reach-7000015212/
you should see how much your service costs and how much your phone costs separately.
Carriers that aren't T-Mobile have historically refused to itemize those. They have been particularly unwilling to reduce the monthly bill after the subsidy is paid off.
It looks like you're accusing these manufacturers of loading PRC spyware. If it's pre-rooted, you should be able to flash CyanogenMod and get rid of the PRC spyware.
Plenty of sub $100 androids already available, but don't let that stop you from plugging Nokia. http://www.pacebutler.com/blog/android-mobile-phones-under-100/
I think the carriers should be required to eliminate termination fees, and structure the payment situation differently
Instead of being allowed to have a 2 year contract, you pay for: (1) Financing charges on your phone. You have an option of either paying up front for the phone, fair market value. Or financing the phone; instead of a "$200 termination fee"; you have a principal balance on your loan for the phone.
Instead of having a subsidy hidden within the monthly fee, you have: (1) a monthly subscription fee, and (2) a monthly installment on the financing for your smart phone.
Then if you leave providers, you don't pay a $200 termination fee. You have the option to continue to make the repayment on your financing, and you have a right to unlock your phone and take it to the competitor, instead of having to get a new smartphone, and a new financing agreement.
Furthermore, once the financing is paid off, your monthly price decreases, since the providers are required to keep the subscription fee separate in that case;
That differs from the current situation, where you continue to pay the same high price, whether the carrier is currently financing your smart phone, or you chose to purchase it outright, or got a cheaper phone subsidized, or a more expensive one....
I'd love to get a subsidized phone. 'Subsidized' means I'm not paying full price for the phone, not now, not ever.
If the operator reduces the upfront cost but then makes me pay the rest during the remainder of the contract, then I'm still paying the full amount or more; so the phone is not subsidized. Subsidized means someone else (The government? A charity? The not-for-pofit operator?) pays part of the phone. I have unfortunaly never found a case where the phone was subsidized. Where can I find such fabled deals?