It's Time To Stop Subsidising Mobile Phones • Hacker News Board

Re: It's Time To Stop Subsidising Mobile Phones

#21

Post by ben1040 » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 2:27 PM UTC

I wonder if non-subsidized phones would cause the manufacturers to think harder about quality, as well.

In the US, with Sprint, AT&T, & Verizon you pay the same price for service whether or not you bring your own phone, so you may as well take the subsidized device. To a person who buys a smartphone on subsidy for $200, as far as they're concerned that's the price and they expect an equivalent amount of value.

If the subsidy were out of the equation, and you had to pay $600 for that device, wouldn't you expect more from the phone than you would if it were perceived as a cheap throwaway? It seems like that would get the manufacturers to step up their game a bit, which is good for the consumer.

Re: It's Time To Stop Subsidising Mobile Phones

#22

Post by mzl » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 2:28 PM UTC

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #7

jswinghammer wrote: post #5

I look at it as a pay now or pay later sort of situation. The charge for my iPhone was low enough that I was willing to get it for $200. I wasn't willing to get it for $800. I love my iPhone but not $800 worth of love. I might pay that back over two years but I'd rather do that than put down $800 for a phone. I'm not even sure that I will pay it back because I am getting service in exchange for staying with AT&T for…

There seems to be some confusion on this in the linked comments too, even though the very first commenter hit the nail on the head, but: You don't need to pay for anything, including phones, up front any longer. Credit is (too) easily available and basically guaranteed to be cheaper and more flexible if you unbundle it from the actual purchase. These disguised loans should really only be attractive to people with low…

While subsidized phones exist in Sweden, the interest is not nearly so bad. In fact, after my 18 month plan is up, I will have paid the same amount for the phone in increased monthly payments as if I had bought it directly. The uptake for the carrier is of course that I am locked into their service for 18 months. The base plan (without the phone payment) is only about $14 per month though for unlimited texts, 500 MiB data, and reasonably cheap phone calls, so I don't mind it.

Re: It's Time To Stop Subsidising Mobile Phones

#23

Post by CaptainMcCrank » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 2:33 PM UTC

ben1040 wrote: post #21

I wonder if non-subsidized phones would cause the manufacturers to think harder about quality, as well. In the US, with Sprint, AT&T, & Verizon you pay the same price for service whether or not you bring your own phone, so you may as well take the subsidized device. To a person who buys a smartphone on subsidy for $200, as far as they're concerned that's the price and they expect an equivalent amount of value. If the…

Nexus 1. Has it shaken the industry?

No manufacturers are stepping up their game and google is crying uncle on the goitalone, unsubsidized model.

Re: It's Time To Stop Subsidising Mobile Phones

#24

Post by mzl » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 2:44 PM UTC

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #4

mallipeddi wrote: post #3

In India actually most people buy their phones separately -no 2-year lock-in contracts with the carrier. Even the iPhone was launched this way.

Surely someone must have studied the comparision of countries with and without this system and came to some conclusion about how it affects tariffs, the amount spent on phones, upgrade cycles etc.

I would guess such things have been studied. It is probably very hard to change an entrenched model though, so even though people might spend more money on phones and services in model A than in model B, that result might only be valid if all players switch.

Re: It's Time To Stop Subsidising Mobile Phones

#25

Post by ben1040 » Fri, Jul 02, 2010, 3:17 PM UTC

CaptainMcCrank wrote: post #23

ben1040 wrote: post #21

I wonder if non-subsidized phones would cause the manufacturers to think harder about quality, as well. In the US, with Sprint, AT&T, & Verizon you pay the same price for service whether or not you bring your own phone, so you may as well take the subsidized device. To a person who buys a smartphone on subsidy for $200, as far as they're concerned that's the price and they expect an equivalent amount of value. If the…

Nexus 1. Has it shaken the industry? No manufacturers are stepping up their game and google is crying uncle on the goitalone, unsubsidized model.

My take is the N1 wasn't disruptive to the carrier controlled/subsidized model because in the US, you had two separate N1 models that effectively only worked on one carrier (unless you found EDGE data service to be acceptable).

An unlocked N1 sold for the T-Mobile 3G band can't be used with full functionality on AT&T, and vice versa. You can't buy an N1 and still have the flexibility to choose a carrier who meets your needs at that particular time.