Apple: Disrupting Mobile Service
Interesting article:
New hardware isn't the only way Apple can shake things up in the mobile industry. The company has the ability to disrupt the entire distribution channel, which is currently controlled by cellular service providers.
The control maintained by service providers has slowed the advance of hardware features and the emergence of new competition for service. Here’s how Apple is poised to disrupt that status quo.
The Phone Subsidy Illusion
Conventional wisdom in the cell phone industry says it's too hard to sell phones at full retail, because most customers can't afford to pay several hundred dollars for a new phone.
Service providers also don’t want to compete for customers on a monthly basis; finding ...
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New hardware isn't the only way Apple can shake things up in the mobile industry. The company has the ability to disrupt the entire distribution channel, which is currently controlled by cellular service providers.
The control maintained by service providers has slowed the advance of hardware features and the emergence of new competition for service. Here’s how Apple is poised to disrupt that status quo.
The Phone Subsidy Illusion
Conventional wisdom in the cell phone industry says it's too hard to sell phones at full retail, because most customers can't afford to pay several hundred dollars for a new phone.
Service providers also don’t want to compete for customers on a monthly basis; finding ...
(continues)
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hell yeah the iphone is going to be the begining of the end of the shady cell providers. people WIl buy phones at full retail and will like not having contracts its that simple. once the phone manufacters go off on there own and no longer tie there phones to be currupted by the provider the world will be a better place. iphone will start a new trend that will only benefit the consumer in the long run. buy phone at full retail provider screws stuff up take your phone and your number somewhere else. no more "well i must advise you of a etf fee of blah blah blah' shut the f up cuz i'm out of here.
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Just a thought, but the name "iPhone" should probably not be used anymroe to represent the Apple phone, since the name has been patented for years and Cisco (I think) just came out w/ the iPhone. It is just a VoIP phone for your home.
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And yet again...the ETF doesn't even actually pay for the discount you got on the phone. I'm not sure what you're so happy about with this situation. Contracts aren't the horrible thing people make them out to be.
Also, it's not like the release of this phone is going to be the end of contracts. If companies wish to keep contracts going they could just require the purchase of a phone at the time you start your service and have free phones they offer as a minimum thing to go with service. Or they could just say hey, you're signing a contract even if you bring your own phone in.
Another option is that they will say that you get promotional rate plan prices (i.e. the current standard prices) with the purchase of one of our phones or y...
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Also, it's not like the release of this phone is going to be the end of contracts. If companies wish to keep contracts going they could just require the purchase of a phone at the time you start your service and have free phones they offer as a minimum thing to go with service. Or they could just say hey, you're signing a contract even if you bring your own phone in.
Another option is that they will say that you get promotional rate plan prices (i.e. the current standard prices) with the purchase of one of our phones or y...
(continues)
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Hayate said:
Regardless, contracts are not some horrible thing the cell phone companies devised just to screw everyone over and be shady. They're a legitimate part of the industry and a means of projecting and protecting revenue. They aren't going to go away just because some other company makes an unlocked phone.
No question you are right on that. The interesting part of the article was how Apple succesfully gets people to drop $500 on a music player, and most folks expect a cell phone to be free.
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wnrussell said:
No question you are right on that. The interesting part of the article was how Apple succesfully gets people to drop $500 on a music player, and most folks expect a cell phone to be free.
Boy I give you BIG thumbs up for that comment!
People want phones for free that play music but they will pay through the nose for a music player that is also a phone. It all stems from the days when carriers gave free phones away (but what most people don't remember is that you only got 30 minutes included in those plans)....That was only 10 years ago. 😉
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Agreed. There are already prepaid options and the carrier doesn't care if you bring in your own equipment... Most people choose contract plans because they want the more enticing contract rate plans. This does 2 great things for the carrier:
1) They do not have to support the handset since it is not "officially" part of their lineup, which means Apple will have to have employees there to troubleshoot handset issues.
2) They do not lose revenue if someone opts out of discounted handset pricing by bringing in their own equipment.
1) They do not have to support the handset since it is not "officially" part of their lineup, which means Apple will have to have employees there to troubleshoot handset issues.
2) They do not lose revenue if someone opts out of discounted handset pricing by bringing in their own equipment.
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