To what extent do you think lack of 2 year subsidy will impact US iPhone sales?

[ToroidalZeus]

Again. Read my post. The subsidy was good on the original mobile share plans if you had 4 or more lines.

ATT has kinda of rigged their mobile share to make it look like no subsidy is cheaper by INCREASING the rates and than claiming a $25 savings if you pay in full or next or BYOD.

The carriers will do what's best for them. And making plans cheaper PER LINE is not one of them.

Verizon stopped reporting PER LINE revenue a couple of years ago cause PER LINE revenue was going down.

It's all a shell game with carriers these days and "family plans".

If they just offer POSTPAID euro/Asia single line plans we wouldn't have this conversation.

They rely on post paid FAMILY plans for most of their consumer revenue.

The same can be said for the original mobile share plans vs the familytalk plans w/ unlimited data. Every new plan is worse than the last plan.

 

[aneftp]

The same can be said for the original mobile share plans vs the familytalk plans w/ unlimited data. Every new plan is worse than the last plan.

Totally agree.

Somehow the carriers have some gentlemen agreements not to cross a certain threshold in terms of pricing for post paid plans. Even T-Mobile raises their plans.

 

[von franklin]

People will still but them if they won't them. Only America is wrapped up around getting stuff cheap. I think you will see iPhones that that have been striped down with out all the Bells and Whistles. iPhone is a premium phone so Apple doesn't have to make a cheaper phone for those who can't buy it.

 

[IJBrekke]

I'm on a 5S. When my wife got a 6S I had the opportunity to "upgrade" as well, but chose not to because I couldn't justify the $35ish per month jump in our bill for only a minor boost in functionality.

With the old subsidized model this would have been a no-brainer upgrade for me. I would have considered this wasting my once-every-2-years opportunity and handing free money back to Verizon. Now, I can save significant money as long as I'm satisfied with my phone's performance.

I could see this hurting Apple's sales, or at least discouraging impulse upgrades.