Carrier Are the carrier phone discounts gone ?

[macfacts]

It's not unique to the AT&T Unlimited Data Plan. Apple and the carriers had a strategy early-on to gain market share by deeply discounting the iPhone, and Apple and the carriers have a strategy now to maximize profitability by increasing the price on the iPhone.

Anyone who had an iPhone pre-2014 is now being forced into a non-subsidized full-price model and it will cost us 100s if not 1000s of dollars.

Apple gets paid full price for their phones, always. Carriers used to deeply discount the phones to gain more loyal subscribers, now that they've got us locked up they are colluding to stop the discounts and make us pay what they are paying Apple. So you understand how this works before speaking, read:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304020104577384562576617618

BJ

How are you locked in? Switch to a different carrier.

 

[imlynxy]

Have ATT Unlimited Grandfathered Plan with iPhone 6. Upgrading to iPhone 7 and I assume ATT is canceling the Unlimited I have or can I keep it with the Next Plan?

I've looked at the ATT site, but I do not see anywhere that allows me to keep the Unlimited data.

If I can keep the Unlimited what is the price? And even more important is - I want to have Hotspot capability with my laptop.

Also the ATT site keeps saying 30 month contracts, but Apple's site shows ATT Next 24 month.

If I can't keep the Unlimited with Next, can I get predefined data for 24 months?

Also I might want to upgrade next year. So I'm not really sure how they charge for the iPhone especially with upgrades. Right now I pay $80.

Any tips? This is really a chore trying to figure this out compared to just buying and renewing.

Att is pretty honest with grandfathered UDPs. You can keep it if you go Next.

The only 2 things I don't like about Next : 1. Locked to Att iPhone unli you pay it back, 2. Att packaging, delivery and accuracy of shipment.

 

[Oridus]

Have ATT Unlimited Grandfathered Plan with iPhone 6. Upgrading to iPhone 7 and I assume ATT is canceling the Unlimited I have or can I keep it with the Next Plan?

I've looked at the ATT site, but I do not see anywhere that allows me to keep the Unlimited data.

If I can keep the Unlimited what is the price? And even more important is - I want to have Hotspot capability with my laptop.

Also the ATT site keeps saying 30 month contracts, but Apple's site shows ATT Next 24 month.

If I can't keep the Unlimited with Next, can I get predefined data for 24 months?

Also I might want to upgrade next year. So I'm not really sure how they charge for the iPhone especially with upgrades. Right now I pay $80.

Any tips? This is really a chore trying to figure this out compared to just buying and renewing.

You can keep your unlimited data. You can add an installment for your phone for 24 or 30 months instead of paying it all up front. You own the phone from day one. You will NOT have hotspot capability if you keep unlimited data. AT&T will not force you off the UDP. If you decide to move off it one day, you'll no longer get access to the old grandfathered data, and only will have access to the new UDP if you are a TV subscriber with AT&T (DirecTV or U-verse).
[doublepost=1473028024][/doublepost]

You own it after the phone is paid off. It looks like ATTs are 30 month agreements so 30 months of payments. They extend it to make your monthly payment lower.

False. With AT&T, you own the phone from day one. You're just agreeing to pay it off over time. This is just like going to Best Buy to buy a TV with their in house financing. You own the TV from day one, you're just paying for it over time. AT&T does not charge interest, finance charges, nor does it have an annual percentage rate.

 

[aneftp]

It's not unique to the AT&T Unlimited Data Plan. Apple and the carriers had a strategy early-on to gain market share by deeply discounting the iPhone, and Apple and the carriers have a strategy now to maximize profitability by increasing the price on the iPhone.

Anyone who had an iPhone pre-2014 is now being forced into a non-subsidized full-price model and it will cost us 100s if not 1000s of dollars.

Apple gets paid full price for their phones, always. Carriers used to deeply discount the phones to gain more loyal subscribers, now that they've got us locked up they are colluding to stop the discounts and make us pay what they are paying Apple. So you understand how this works before speaking, read:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304020104577384562576617618

BJ

Apple generally discounts carriers around 10%. So don't count on the carriers pay "full price" as evidence by govt getting 10% discount on Apple volume purchases. U can bet Apple giving Verizon/ATT 10% off when they order 5-10 million iPhones.

The real reason carriers stopped subsidies is lines 2-5 do not generate the same profit as line 1. In the race towards the most "subscribers". Carriers padded their stats with lines 2-5 $9.99 a line add ons. Which weren't an issue in the era of flip phones or smartphones that cost $500 and carriers were making consumers pay $300-400 for that lastest 2005-2006 blackberry/Motorola/Palm treo phones.

The real issue wasn't the discounts per se. It was the family lines and lines 2-5 discounts.

 

[quietstormSD]

I think with more people being exposed to the actual retail price of the phones, the demand curve will probably get shifted back to the left a bit, undoing the effect that subsidization does to demand. Thus, I think the market price will probably get un-inflated a bit, but not completely.

I hope that is the case. But I think most people are going to be putting little to no money down and just tack on another monthly payment to rent a phone for a year. The carriers and phone manufactures figured out a way to keep the inflated prices for some time to come.

 

[comptr]

I hope that is the case. But I think most people are going to be putting little to no money down and just tack on another monthly payment to rent a phone for a year. The carriers and phone manufactures figured out a way to keep the inflated prices for some time to come.

Plus depending on your plan carriers offer discounts for taking their financing so it works out to be a good deal.

 

[willmtaylor]

A loophole? Really? Just too funny. The carriers offered UDP at one time. Many of us here still have them. It's legal and there is no loophole to it.

You're either naive or being purposefully obtuse. There is thread after thread and even website after website filled with hundreds if not thousands of people discussing different methods to game the system and keep UDP's.

Now, I'm not saying that what carriers did was right, but to claim that there are no loopholes to it is laughable.

 

[Drag'nGT]

You can keep your unlimited data. You can add an installment for your phone for 24 or 30 months instead of paying it all up front. You own the phone from day one. You will NOT have hotspot capability if you keep unlimited data. AT&T will not force you off the UDP. If you decide to move off it one day, you'll no longer get access to the old grandfathered data, and only will have access to the new UDP if you are a TV subscriber with AT&T (DirecTV or U-verse).

I'm just now trying to figure this out with potential pre-orders starting on the 9th.

AT&T is allowing us to keep our Unlimited plans and move to the Next installment plan for 24 or 30 months. When we pre-order, will we need to do this with AT&T and their website or with Apple's? AT&T's site has usually been really poor on pre-order days. Plus, some of us might want to order the new Apple Watch at the same time that we order the new iPhone.

It seems to me that you can have a similar bill with the rental price of your phone figured in but you loose the "unlimited" data -OR- you buy the new iphone - selling the old one = $200-300 out of pocket and keep the unlimited data.

 

[Oridus]

I'm just now trying to figure this out with potential pre-orders starting on the 9th.

AT&T is allowing us to keep our Unlimited plans and move to the Next installment plan for 24 or 30 months. When we pre-order, will we need to do this with AT&T and their website or with Apple's? AT&T's site has usually been really poor on pre-order days. Plus, some of us might want to order the new Apple Watch at the same time that we order the new iPhone.

It seems to me that you can have a similar bill with the rental price of your phone figured in but you loose the "unlimited" data -OR- you buy the new iphone - selling the old one = $200-300 out of pocket and keep the unlimited data.

Stop over thinking it. Keep unlimited data and keep paying more for your plan. Ditch unlimited data and switch to tiered and pay possibly less for your plan (depending on how much data you use average). Either way, you'll pay full retail for your phone. AT&T's website / call center / stores would be the best place to go, however Apple's website should allow you to upgrade without any changes to the plan. They're required to show you the end result before you place your order. If any thing looks out of place, just stop and go through at&t's site. I pre-ordered last year through premier with no problem. Got it on launch day.