Walmart Permanently Discounts iPhone 5c to $29 and iPhone 5s to $99 [Updated]

[Marc-SP]

By process of elimination it can only be Germany

Almost, but no

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Other countries, with real competence?... ha. ha. ha. That's funny you think there are countries that are competent.

Actually you are totally right, there is not such a thing. Sadly, my country would probably be closer to be described as incompetent, haha . I made a mistake, I ment competition. Sorry! As you can imagine English is not my first language, and let's say that I am not as competent as I would like to be

 

[Marc-SP]

Couple things.

First, what's with this "real competence" statement? Despite the fact that you talk smack about the US, plenty of nations benefit from as well as look up to the US. People would probably have a lot higher inclination to care what you have to say if you didn't start by spitting in their faces.

Second, the Lumia 520 is about the same price here as it is wherever your mother loves (by the way, why so cryptic? You could have just told us the country you were referencing. You know, that really competent one?) also, the 520 and the 5c are nowhere near comparable hardwares so stating that a 5c is $600 is largely irrelevant (and yes I have a 521, the US TMobile version of the phone, myself).

People ragging on the US contract plans aren't completely wrong. They are a bit of a joke. But comparing telco prices is a bit a a fallacy; actually it's a huge one. Your competent nation is likely the size of one of our smallest STATES. That doesn't make it any lesser. What it does do is make it much cheaper to create the necessary infrastructure for antennas and other necessary equipment. It is what it is.

Anyway, this dead horse has been beaten beyond recognition. Have a wonderful day.

I just made a (funny? silly?) mistake, I meant "competition". I am very sorry if I offended anybody! As you can imagine English is not my first language, and let's say that I am not as competent as I would like to be

In any case, I wouldn't be so upset even if someone in a Internet forum actually said something not so good about my homeland. I mean, there are many reasons on the world to feel upset, and most are much "better" than an opinion of an anonymous guy in the Internet, no matter what he says. I really think so.

 

[IJ Reilly]

If anyone wants a laugh, it's $20 per megabyte to use AT&T data on the sea. Not kidding. If you're ever on a cruise, turn off your cellular data. Once some stupid app wants to contact Facebook...

This has absolutely nothing to do with AT&T. You may have failed to notice the lack of cell towers in the middle of the ocean. The cruise lines subscribe to an at-sea satellite system. It costs a small fortune to use. On cruise ships you will be better off buying time on the ship's wi-fi, though it isn't exactly cheap either.

 

[PocketSand11]

This has absolutely nothing to do with AT&T. You may have failed to notice the lack of cell towers in the middle of the ocean. The cruise lines subscribe to an at-sea satellite system. It costs a small fortune to use. On cruise ships you will be better off buying time on the ship's wi-fi, though it isn't exactly cheap either.

I assumed that everyone would charge a ton, but I said AT&T just to be specific. That's sneaky behavior. If you just leave your cellular data on, you could be hit with a >$100 bill from stuff refreshing. If someone sends you a 7MB photo, that's $140. If some grandma who doesn't know what a MB is watches a YouTube video, that's thousands of dollars. It's clear that hardly anybody would want to do that and that they just want to wait for a sucker. It should be something you have to opt into.

And I also find it hard to believe that it costs them anywhere near $20/MB to handle your connection. Satellite Internet services for rural areas are less than a hundredth of the price.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I assumed that everyone would charge a ton, but I said AT&T just to be specific. That's sneaky behavior. If you just leave your cellular data on, you could be hit with a >$100 bill from stuff refreshing. If someone sends you a 7MB photo, that's $140. If some grandma who doesn't know what a MB is watches a YouTube video, that's thousands of dollars. It's clear that hardly anybody would want to do that and that they just want to wait for a sucker. It should be something you have to opt into.

And I also find it hard to believe that it costs them anywhere near $20/MB to handle your connection. Satellite Internet services for rural areas are less than a hundredth of the price.

Again, nothing to do with AT&T. They are not supplying you with at-sea cell service and the charges would apply no matter who you used as your cell phone provider. The cruise lines actually do warn you about leaving phones turned on when not in port. I'm old enough to be a grandpa, and I know about this, so you might want to get that stereotype out of your head.

 

[PocketSand11]

I'm old enough to be a grandpa, and I know about this, so you might want to get that stereotype out of your head.

There's nothing inaccurate about the stereotype since it doesn't claim to apply to everyone. They are the most likely group to be unexposed to computers just because of age and because, in the U.S., they are more likely to be immigrants from a less advanced nation. It's not an insult, and it applies heavily to my own family. Computer skills got you nowhere in 1950s Syria.

 

[IJ Reilly]

There's nothing inaccurate about the stereotype since it doesn't claim to apply to everyone. They are the most likely group to be unexposed to computers just because of age and because, in the U.S., they are more likely to be immigrants from a less advanced nation. It's not an insult, and it applies heavily to my own family. Computer skills got you nowhere in 1950s Syria.

Stereotypes are a poor excuse for lazy thinking. In any case I didn't post here to make that point, but simply to correct something you claimed.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Looks like Wal-Mart is trying to clear out inventory.

 

[kdarling]

And I also find it hard to believe that it costs them anywhere near $20/MB to handle your connection. Satellite Internet services for rural areas are less than a hundredth of the price.

You would think so, but even a small boat's personal satellite connection at 40 Kbps can cost $30/MB.

Going bigger, a cruise ship might have 3,000 passengers aboard. That requires a much more expensive connection, but you'd be surprised how small the bandwidth is for that many people.

First, the cost to add Wifi and satellite Internet comms is about $400,000 per cruise ship.

Last time I checked a couple of years ago, each ship then pays about $20,000 a month (about 50 cents a minute) for dedicated 8 Mbps satellite access, about half of which is shared by all the passengers, and half by the ship's crew and business needs.

 

[mdelvecchio]

I've said it before and it's proven. The iPhone 5c was a failure.

Excuse me "hobby" (handgestures quotation marks)

then you probably shouldn't boast about saying it -- the c is in the top 3 selling handsets at US carrier stores. often number 2. that's a massive, massive succes.

 

[shenan1982]

You would think so, but even a small boat's personal satellite connection at 40 Kbps can cost $30/MB.

Going bigger, a cruise ship might have 3,000 passengers aboard. That requires a much more expensive connection, but you'd be surprised how small the bandwidth is for that many people.

First, the cost to add Wifi and satellite Internet comms is about $400,000 per cruise ship.

Last time I checked a couple of years ago, each ship then pays about $20,000 a month (about 50 cents a minute) for dedicated 8 Mbps satellite access, about half of which is shared by all the passengers, and half by the ship's crew and business needs.

People who don't understand the technology will always roll their eyes when you try to explain it logically like this. They don't understand that most of the time you're sitting 1/8-3/4 of a mile from a tower... requiring relatively low-power to send\receive data. An internet satellite is 22,000 miles above earth requires substantially more power and larger antennae to send\receive. All of this costs a small fortune... for the same reason as anything else... supply and demand. There's enough people with land\cellular data that the market just hasn't driven the cost of the satellite technology down... especially given it costs tens of millions to launch a satellite which lasts 3-5 years.

Here's a GREAT article explaining it for those who want to learn something:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1419

 

[richwoodrocket]

Only people who don't care, absolutely cannot wait, or don't follow Apple would buy an iPhone now. Three months from now there will be a new model to replace the 5s.

 

[billystlyes]

Sad state of affairs in Apple land these days....

 

[IJ Reilly]

Only people who don't care, absolutely cannot wait, or don't follow Apple would buy an iPhone now. Three months from now there will be a new model to replace the 5s.

The best time to buy any technology product is tomorrow.

 

[jthompson666]

It might be because we are actually paying for the maintenance of all those towers across the 48 states and not the service. Who is your provider in the EU?

3 UK - They still pay AT&T for their network use.. It's almost like how a MVNO works..

 

[jthompson666]

Which network provider are you with? Is that with three? That would save me having to buy a pre-paid SIM everytime I go over and missing calls on my main number.

Yep.. If you get the 30 day rolling contract since only plan, you must have been a customer for at least 30 days & you would need to call them to activate international roaming on your account. They have a similar PAYG plan though that allows you to go abroad from day one its £15 and includes much the same allowances (including AYCE data). The roaming will work for 3 months in any year on the same sim and not for more than 30 days at a time.. But if you go to Canada on day 31 and then reconnect to the USA networks (having connected to a Canadian network) it will allow you to have another 30 days.

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how much dd you pay full price for your phone?

UK RRP for the iPhone 5s 32GB.. Even when you buy the phone on contract (subsidised) it still works out so much cheaper! I prefer buying outright though..

 

[IJ Reilly]

You would think so, but even a small boat's personal satellite connection at 40 Kbps can cost $30/MB.

Going bigger, a cruise ship might have 3,000 passengers aboard. That requires a much more expensive connection, but you'd be surprised how small the bandwidth is for that many people.

First, the cost to add Wifi and satellite Internet comms is about $400,000 per cruise ship.

Last time I checked a couple of years ago, each ship then pays about $20,000 a month (about 50 cents a minute) for dedicated 8 Mbps satellite access, about half of which is shared by all the passengers, and half by the ship's crew and business needs.

Not to mention, it's also a big profit center for the cruise industry. At sea they have a captive audience.

Now, here's the sad part. On my last cruise I decided to "get smart" and buy a roaming data plan for my iPad so I wouldn't be so reliant on the ship's expensive wi-fi internet. I believe it actually worked in only one port in the Mediterranean. In the others I showed service, but got none.

 

[CarpalMac]

Yep.. If you get the 30 day rolling contract since only plan, you must have been a customer for at least 30 days & you would need to call them to activate international roaming on your account. They have a similar PAYG plan though that allows you to go abroad from day one its £15 and includes much the same allowances (including AYCE data). The roaming will work for 3 months in any year on the same sim and not for more than 30 days at a time.. But if you go to Canada on day 31 and then reconnect to the USA networks (having connected to a Canadian network) it will allow you to have another 30 days.

Wonderful, thank you very much for the detailed reply.

 

[Ritmo]

So glad I live in the uk.. People in the states pay so much for cell service.. I bought the iPhone 5s full price (sim free) unlocked and pay £12.90 (roughly $20) a month and get totally unlimited data (no caps).. 600 minutes and 5000 texts.. Plus I get free roaming on AT&T & T-Mobiles networks in the states.. Austrailia and a bunch of other countries are free also. So I can continue to use my iPhone just as if I was still in the uk. Ironic that I can get unlimited data in the states cheaper than people who actually live there .. Plus from December 2015 roaming charges are being completely abolished within the EU and some countries in the EEC.. The USA is really very anti - competitive! T - Mobile seems to be the only thing driving any sort of competition over there..

That sounds awesome! Can people from US buy these plans? If people knew about this and used this "loophole", maybe US companies would actually lower their ridiculous prices.

I'm not from US and it would kill me if I had to pay 100€ for unlimited mobile internet.

 

[jthompson666]

That sounds awesome! Can people from US buy these plans? If people knew about this and used this "loophole", maybe US companies would actually lower their ridiculous prices.

I'm not from US and it would kill me if I had to pay 100€ for unlimited mobile internet.

I guess if maybe they got the £15/month prepay sim and had it activated in the UK.. You would need a new SIM once every 30 days.. For an iPad it wouldn't be so bad perhaps.. Easy if you have a friend in the UK who could do it for you and then just post it over... It's limited to the fastest 3G though.. No LTE just yet!

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Wonderful, thank you very much for the detailed reply.

No problem! Happy to help

 

[fredaroony]

Those of us in Australia gaze with awe and jealousy at the prices you pay over there... admittedly, thats not including your tax, but its still a whole lot cheaper than here. Do you have to pay more for the phone? Like, monthly payments alongside your contracted Telco deal? Or, is that it... Even your old regular prices are astonishing...

What? You can get a 5S for free on a $70/month contract with Vodafone including 3GB of data

 

[kyte]

What? You can get a 5S for free on a $70/month contract with Vodafone including 3GB of data

Thats free? $70 a month just so I can get an iphone does not compute. Here's the thing, I dont use my phone for anything much except messaging (all kinds) and a bit of email/browsing.. Therefore I will be buying outright. I only spend about $130-140 a *year* on my communication needs... so $70/m just doesnt cut it.