G+_Kevin Spitzer (JaguarXT Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Now that the 5C cost 50$ at best buy, target and Walmart IMHO it will out sell the 5 S in this holiday season. http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/10/04/apples-iphone-5s-tops-sales-charts-at-big-4-us-carriers-iphone-5c-close-behind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joe Phelps Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Jeremy Petzold Why pay more for the same device? I saved $450 which is a lot of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joe Phelps Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Jeremy Petzold There are only two viable carriers where I live. There is no plan pricing competition -- the two carriers are virtually the same. The monthly plan cost is the same on or off contract. This is life away from major metro areas and includes millions of phone customers. Do handsets cost less in Europe and other regions where subsidies are less available? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joe Phelps Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Jeremy Petzold That didn't answer my question. Do handsets cost less in Europe and other regions where subsidies are less available? You said if we bought our phones unsubsidized, the phone costs would go down. I'm trying to understand your theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joe Phelps Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Jeremy Petzold Only if there is adequate competition which doesn't exist in the carrier market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joe Phelps Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Jeremy Petzold But that market doesn't exist without the carriers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_George Magdaleno Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Jeremy is right about the free market, however the industry thrives on two year contracts allowing publicly traded companies like AT&T and Verizon to project earnings over a period of time. So one economic model is valued over the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_George Magdaleno Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 All in Best Buy and Walmart make more off the carrier contract commission than the phone thus the $50 price. This is great way to compete with discount carriers like Virgin and née MetroPCS now T-Mobile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Prem Lee Barbosa Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Jeremy there's no adequate way to address the pricing issues without first addressing the way FCC and the communications infrastructure creates certain physical paradigms to how goods and services physically can be offered to consumers. As it is carriers can give you a hard time for bringing a phone from elsewhere; this and other barriers of access create a strong ennui to consumers demanding more for their dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_George Magdaleno Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Since carriers predate mobile communication, the carriers were able to establish premium markets before mobile to mobile communication created market forces to act independent of the carrier's. There are very few World Phones sold by carriers because they want to avoid the case Jeremy pointed out earlier. Its prohibitive to their own model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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