Me too... But then again, I realize att does not even care about its employees best interests...
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AT&T CEO: Carriers Can't Afford Big Subsidies for Devices Any Longer
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i thought about this for along time. Switched form AT&T after bring there for many years to T-Mobile. Either paying the phones off asap or leaving them on conract for 20 bucks per month is ok. I actually feel paying them off all at once is better as the bill is lower. At least here, I pay for 3 lines
I feel you. I'm on Ting now myself and I wish they used the Verizon network, since Verizon gets such better coverage. At least Ting roams onto Verizon for voice (most Sprint MVNO's don't roam at all!). But I went with Ting anyway because they're so flexible and... polite. Flexible because there's no overages... you need more data one month, you just use it and pay for the extra data with no overages. Or you can not use data at all one month and just not have to pay for it, etc.
Polite because... they genuinely seem to care about their customers. A lot of the MVNO's are known for having cheap rates but absolutely abysmal customer service. Maybe some people don't give a darn about customer service, but it's important to me. I want to know that if I have a problem or concern, I will actually be helped and listened to. Almost every time I've called Ting they've picked up by the third ring, and they pretty much never put me on hold.
Although Sprint doesn't have 4G in my area at all (neither WiMAX nor LTE), their 3G and voice coverage is pretty solid here, so I haven't minded too much (but I only use about 25MB of data a month, so maybe a heavy data user would feel differently).
Ting on the Verizon network would be heaven for me, since it'd be great coverage AND great service. I think Sprint is the only provider that would even accept Ting though. Maybe Verizon and AT&T don't want to give their customers the option of a provider with no overages and better service, or their customers might just leave.
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You are comparing Apples and Oranges.
Sophomoric, I know. But, in reality, one company is a service provider and the other is a hardware/software company trying to ride the wave as long as they can. Totally different risk profiles. There is no reason why AT&T's margins "should" be remotely near that of Apple.
They will adapt and probably buy cheaper phones like they do in most of the world.
I doubt they will be lowered much, apple charged 600$ for the OG iPhone when there was never an option for subsidy's.
The $XX Down marketing works all too well here. One day google will not be able to sell electronics at a loss, if anything prices will go up a tad bit.
Actually they are. So it's $15/mo less when you don't take the subsidy. There's no logic fail in that.
I've been pretty satisfied with over 2.5 years on Virgin Mobile, coming from Verizon.
300 minutes, unlimited text and data (sure 2.5 GB+ throttling, but I never need) for $35? Sold. And got around the high device upgrade cost with the HTC One V on sale near Christmas last year for $50! Fantastic.
There's a couple other providers I could probably hop over to and save a few bucks long term, but I enjoy the overall cost and service of VM. VM/Sprint has perfect coverage where I need it (Metro Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati).
300 minutes, unlimited text and data (sure 2.5 GB+ throttling, but I never need) for $35? Sold. And got around the high device upgrade cost with the HTC One V on sale near Christmas last year for $50! Fantastic.
There's a couple other providers I could probably hop over to and save a few bucks long term, but I enjoy the overall cost and service of VM. VM/Sprint has perfect coverage where I need it (Metro Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati).
This type of news only works in favor of Google/Motorola/Android. They already have a Nexus 5 at $350 and the Motorola G at $179 off contract. A huge percentage of Apple buyers would not be able to afford Apple's off contract/unsubsidized pricing.
I'm guessing that we're going to start to see a price war in the future. May not be next year but Apple better be ready to battle cheap high end phones. The Nexus 5 proves that a powerful phone can cost almost half as much as an iPhone 5s.
I'm guessing that we're going to start to see a price war in the future. May not be next year but Apple better be ready to battle cheap high end phones. The Nexus 5 proves that a powerful phone can cost almost half as much as an iPhone 5s.
I'm sorry but I'd rather buy a Nexus 5 outright then to make monthly payments to the man. Or better yet make phones cheaper so that we don't have to sign silly contracts. To me a monthly payment is still a obligation to pay back a debt. And if Google can make a decent phone that's almost half the cost of an iPhone I don't see why Apple can't do the same other than greed.
The cheap off contract phones will hurt Apple in this situation because Apple is not willing to give up their profit margin.
I am already at $81/month with unlimited data and paid full price for my iPhone 5 slightly more than a year ago. It turned out cheaper over two years than signing a contract and paying for a subsidized phone.
You're exactly right! I'm staying with the company long enough for them to match my 401k 40% and then leaving...
You are comparing Apples and Oranges.
Sophomoric, I know. But, in reality, one company is a service provider and the other is a hardware/software company trying to ride the wave as long as they can. Totally different risk profiles. There is no reason why AT&T's margins "should" be remotely near that of Apple.
Why not? What if all the US carriers jacked up their rates so that their profit margins were in line with Apple? Do you think people would be bragging about how much profit their carrier was making?
Subscriber volume doesn't necessarily mean higher profits.
Say what you want, I like these newer no contract plans. Nice and simple. I pay $145 a month to share 4GB of data with 3 lines and mobile hotspot is available to all 3 lines.
My group's data usage is usually 2GB, 500MB, 500MB and one of the lines utilized tethering. Under the previous plan, that meant $80 for voice minutes, $30 for messaging, and $50 for the 5GB plan for tethering, and $30 for the 3GB plan for the other two lines. That comes out to $220!
With the previous mobile share, it came out to $190, with the bonus of the other two lines getting mobile hotspot when they're in a pinch. Now, my bill goes down to $145.
Sure I may only have 4GB to share, but my group's usage was only 3GB anyways each month. Before, I'd be paying for 11GB and "wasting" 8GB with terrible data utilization. Now I pay for 4GB and waste less than a gig.
I fail to see where the ripoff is. For me, I don't have to deal with phone contracts anymore and I pay a nice simple rate each month, $75 less than I was initially paying. How is this a ripoff?
Lines, camping out, obnoxious scalping on EBay and Craigslist with every new iPhone iteration? It would certainly be a different scenario with more available supplies for everybody.
An eye opener for people who didn't know how subsidies work and find out they can't really afford the new iPhone every 2 years. Makes people a smarter shopper weighing on pros and cons of different phone offerings and how it fits their plan of use
People who can afford it would be happier as availability has just tremendously increased..
An eye opener for people who didn't know how subsidies work and find out they can't really afford the new iPhone every 2 years. Makes people a smarter shopper weighing on pros and cons of different phone offerings and how it fits their plan of use
People who can afford it would be happier as availability has just tremendously increased..
have a T-note 3 on ATT..i pay 80$ 450 mins/5000 night/weekend 200 text... yup iphone 1 plans. i was holding it to save my unlimited data.. i start to use way more data now that im using a note again.. ill get close to 5GB+ most the time now.. cant wait to go back to tmo 70$ unlimited
ATT is not making enough money money money thats all they care about
ATT is not making enough money
money money thats all they care aboutI don't understand this. The whole reason we can get iPhones for $200-400 is the fact that they hide the additional costs into our phone bill. How exactly is that costing them anything?
No it isn't. I pay like $100 for 2 iPhones. No way they would drop my plan to $70. Nobody else is getting their plan cut by $15. You're a fool if you believe that.
Even if subsidies go away, companies will find a way to finance luxury priced phones. It would be terrible for every OEM to have a sudden drop in margins b/c that would directly affect the quality of future products we get. That said, as much favoritism as the Moto G gets, it would be weird to see this market backtrack on progress.
It is the cost that carriers are paying upfront to get iPhone in their stores. And beyond that, if inventory sits there, they aren't getting their money back. If they are paying Apple more fees than just retail price, that is a higher risk for them. If you break your contract early, suddenly they are out a chunk of that subsidy.
I thought it was plain and simple. After your contract is up your monthly drops by $15 per device. However, there is no way you are paying $100 on a family share plan unless you are only on their 300 mb plan. The problem w/ ATT is that in their new pricing chart, they actually raised prices for anyone who has less than a 4gb plan.
It is the cost that carriers are paying upfront to get iPhone in their stores. And beyond that, if inventory sits there, they aren't getting their money back. If they are paying Apple more fees than just retail price, that is a higher risk for them. If you break your contract early, suddenly they are out a chunk of that subsidy.
I thought it was plain and simple. After your contract is up your monthly drops by $15 per device. However, there is no way you are paying $100 on a family share plan unless you are only on their 300 mb plan. The problem w/ ATT is that in their new pricing chart, they actually raised prices for anyone who has less than a 4gb plan.
i dumped the big carriers ages ago. use straighttalk pay 46 bucks a month, no contract no bs. 2.5 gb data. If you need lots of data might not make sense. They run off AT$T backbone.
AT$T can %#$^ off, verizon all of them. Disgusting what they charge compared to Europe et al.
AT$T can %#$^ off, verizon all of them. Disgusting what they charge compared to Europe et al.