If you’re thinking about getting that new 3G iPhone, you might want to hold off a few more months and see what happens with the other carriers. BusinessWeek has an article about how AT&T’s aggressive subsidizing of the iPhone will have a negative impact on handset makers and carriers, because it’s going to force them to increase subsidies and reduce service fees. Translation: good times for the consumer bold enough to stay off the iPhone train.
Another way to retain users is to offer lower service prices. In fact, here’s one way competitors may have a leg up on AT&T, which has raised service prices for iPhone buyers as it tries to recoup the higher subsidy cost. “The operators are going to get very aggressive with pricing in the second half of the year,” says Walter Piecyk, an analyst with Pali Research. “We could see 30% to 40% price cuts in the industry, [possibly led by Sprint]. If people are paying more for gas, saving $50 a month for wireless will be compelling.”
“The iPhone’s Impact on Rivals” [BusinessWeek]
(Photo: Getty)
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Just curious, but does anyone here have cable? The iPhone setup is the same as a cable box setup. You pay for some service (phone or cable), they sell and/or loan you the tool to receive the service.
I can’t just call Optimum online and say I want to buy an HD box from them without signing up for the service. This is the same thing and it boggles me that people feel so entitled to an iPhone (at the same time, again, feeling like iPhone users are cultists/idiots who pay too much to use Apple products/better options are available/etc) that they believe they are above a contract they would have to agree to in order to use it.
An iPhone is not an inalienable right. Let’s save the moral outrage for something like food or the right to live somewhere or something that at least is a little less vapid than the ownership of a most of you would loathe to purchase anyway.
@hopelessdeskmonkey: He’ll figure it out one day when he slides down the other side of the rainbow he’s on. I will never understand how some people simply escape reality. I find the whole concept amazing actually. I want bliss too
@mdoublej: Who said anything about a second contract?
Also, stop being a douche.
@induscreed: Interesting, but then who would you have service with?
@rabiddachshund:
OK, I am assuming you are already an At&T customer, and donot want to signup for another 2 years when you avail of a 3G Iphone. So to keep your existing contract with no renewal and just end up with a 3G Iphone handset which you can freely use on ATT’s network(sans visual vmail), for the price of $374 you would do this.
The 374 also assumes an ETF of 175(if AT&T raises it, you’ll have to run the numbers to see if its still profitable)
Now if you plan to do this to use in the US w/o At&t , I think TMobile is the only other GSM network provider,in which case you will have to wait until someone figures out how to unlock the 3Giphone(which I am sure will happen sooner than later).
@mdoublej: Wow. Just wow.
Why all the negative iphone spin on here the past few days. The past 2 posts about the ipone on here have been just plain crap? What gives, Gawker cant pay you guys enough to get an iphone?
Ahem…
As and English teacher I love to read the post on this site, but today you all have outdone yourselves.
“Stroking Manes”, “Bending Over”, “Asshats” and “Douches”…theres some highly intelligent clandestine homoerocticism goings on. I experimented back in…oh nevermind.
@Ariel.Sanders: I hope you aren’t really a English teacher. I’m horrible at spelling, but I’m sure you spelled “homoeroticism” wrong. Just a note that if you try to make fun of others, make sure your own flaws are well hidden.
here in the UK at least this new iPhone 3G is cheaper than the original.
However we pay shit loads of money for petrol, the stuff u call gas, so it balances off, maybe anyways.
It’s over 2 dollars 30 cents i think, converted roughly, at the station outside my house for 1 friggin litre of unleaded petrol
philipbarrett2003: shhh. Nokia doesn’t want anyone to know about their “secret” smartphone that has had WiFi, GPS, 3G, a bigger and more high-res screen, a 5MP camera, and an OPEN OS that anyone can develop apps for that run locally(i.e.,fast) and which also works with all the same websites that the iphone does.
It’s a secret. They’re not advertising it because they don’t want anyone to know about it.
indydrew: Perhaps it’s because it really is a bad deal for the customer?
MediaNet unlimited is $15 for anyone, except iphone users. Any other phone can be easily unlocked by entering a simple code on the keypad. Other phones can use free java apps written by anyone, not just the developers that have been blessed by the hand of Jobs and distributed solely through itunes, for a price.
That’s just a couple reasons why it really might be a bad deal for the customer.
The logic doesn’t make any sense. AT&T increased its PDA data plan to $30/month. I fail to see how we will save money. Poor analysis from source.
Thanks for sharing though, Consumerist.
Why not just grab an unlocked iphone from overseas in a month ( all iphones are manufactured with the same band capability regardless of the country they’re going to per apple rep today.) In the US, T-mobile’s 3G will be using 2100Mhz. If the phone doesn’t work with Tmo immediately, it soon should with all the brainpower working to iron out the hack. There is already a VOIP app that can then be installed and used with the T-mobile Hot spot @home wifi add-on feature (unlimited calling through wifi) You should be able to take your 39.99 Tmo plan, add hot spot for 9.95, and a text package and come out well ahead than if you saddled yourself with an ATT plan. For all those screaming how unfair it is to ATT, I promise to never use my phone for web browsing….I just need an apple compatible PDA with push email and I’m not paying more for an outdated ipod touch to get it!
Here’s a Video on YouTube that describes the iPhone pricing scheme better than any other online story I’ve found so far.
If you sign the ETF and get out of contract can you still access the application store and the iTunes store from the phone?
@bocasundance: That was one of the stupidest friggn’ videos I have watched in a long time.
Really? You were able to sit though this shit? Wow…Congrats to you sir.
If you buy it from the Apple Store, I fail to see how AT&T will be able to charge a ‘full price’ for the phone.
Cellphone contracts have a no-fault 30day optout. If you *really* wanted to, you should be able to sign up for the contract, activate it for $30, then cancel the contract before day $30 and only pay a pro-rated contract usage.
So AT&T charges $30 for the data plan? And this is JUST the data? I know Sprint’s cheapest plan for the Instinct is $70…