To be as blunt as I can be, you guys must be nuts to think Apple will ever only have one "iPhone" design for sale at a given time. Different people have different needs, one device will never make everybody happy.
As to the price reductions I don't see that on current hardware but rather a new lowend device. It should be easy for them to do as the current iphone is priced rather high. Combine that with newer high integration chips and a limited feature set, a lower cost iPhone is a snap. Apple might even be able to maintain margins on the device. Apple could limit the feature set by dropping WiFi or GPS for example, do the system on a modern SoC and you are likely to get better performance at a lower cost.
The low cost iPhone won't be delivered in a vacuum either. Obviously for this to work alternative planes must be available. It is all about marketing to people with different needs.
Likewise some people don't even need that smart of a smart phone running unix. This is why I still see an iPhone Nano as a really good possibility. It is about meeting needs, as such some people would prefer a simple cell functionality with a bit of 3G mixed in. 3G mostly for iTunes.
The interesting thing here is that it is Friday and we are wound up over something that will be cleared up come Monday.
Dave
But Apple does have one iPhone Model for sale right now, just with two different-sized hard drives. Which, in my opinion is really stupid. why not integrate a cellular phone into the current iPhone Nano? Then the click-wheel could be like a rotary phone. How nostalgic would that be? Totally sh^t i know, but it would be hilarious to see. At this point who cares about storage. Since they don't make an iPod that can fit my entire collection of music and videos, I still have to have an iPod to play in the car, plus most car adapters don't work on the iPhone, you have to disengage the phone functions (yes, I know i'm sure some magical device exists, feel free to post your links below me). Sure, I don't need my entire collection of music and videos at any given moment, but it's nice to know I have it on me. Now that's just my situation. I will and am dealing with my disappointment of not being able to have one device to carry.
Cell phone history, even though short, showed that subsidized phones are more attractive and sell much more. It's common sense. Paying $400 over the next two years saves you money over paying the same amount now and people know that.
yes, this might be true but if you keep your phone longer than 2 years you're making bank on the unsubsidized phone! just don't be greedy and buy a new unlocked phone every 2 years.
So iPhone subsidies (which are made of combined voice and data plans) cut into their profits. OK. But the gist of the discussion has been that there's no way to do this without a data plan contributing to that subsidy. Your analysis isn't fine-grained enough to know that.
yeah, it cuts into their profits "probably" because Apple requires a kick-back from the data plan for themselves. Now, i have no way of knowing if other cellular phone manufacturers take a similar cut or if that was just the deal ATT worked out with Apple, but it would make sense. So basically ATT is wining for the same reason everyone on this blog is wining that ATT and Apple have some conspiracy to rip-off the consumer with some out-landish fees and plans.
Revenue from the mandatory data offsets the high cost of subsidy which in turn makes the iPhone a profitable proposition for AT&T.
WiFi coverage depends on where you are. Here in New York three to four years ago you could find lots of open unlocked WiFi signals around. Today everyone has locked their signals. The ubiquity of WiFi is becoming more dependent on subscribing to a service.
I agree 100% and, when you do have vendor supplied WiFi, they make you login or sign-up for an account that only works as long as you have a Safari window opened. Since the iPhone does not multi-task, once you close your safari window to check your email, your connections is lost and that afore mentioned WiFi that everyone thinks is EVERYWHERE and FREE is lost.
I've never had luck with getting any free WiFi unless i'm at a friends house or at home on my own router. WiFi, In my opinion, is bogus in the real world. In the Techy's dreamworld, free WiFi and internet is everywhere but that's simply not the case yet.
I can't find the specific blog but i believe AppleInsider has posted what unlocked (unsubsidized) iphones are going for over in Europe. It's crazy to think people would consider paying upwards of $750 for an iPhone. And, i can't believe that apple would price a product that is roughly 1/2 the functionality of their MacBook at about 2/3's the cost. sounds like just trying to milk it early on for R&D and future funding of the project to me. classic technology marketing.
What is not to believe. The cost of the components are not based on their performance in relation to PC components. Going small is costly.
I'm sure most people do buy larger number of minutes than they use. Yes I agree those unused minutes are paid for and that money is wasted. I also agree for some people pay as you go would be a better deal than flat rate.
As far as roll over, I doubt it matters to AT&T if you use all of your roll over minutes or not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss
That's a huge "if." The study suggests that people are buying much larger plans than they really need. I very strongly suspect that the reason the providers offer these rollover plans is because they know that few get any benefit from them, and those who do, get only a small occasional benefit. Any feature that looks better in concept than it really is, is a good deal for the providers.
Anyway, the main point I was making here is that flat rate is not necessarily cheaper than pay-as-you-go. It's only a good deal if you use your phone a lot, and use it a lot consistently. From the way these discussions tend to go, it seems to me that many don't get the concept of people who'd really like to have the features of an advanced phone, even if they don't spend hours on it every month.
Comments
To be as blunt as I can be, you guys must be nuts to think Apple will ever only have one "iPhone" design for sale at a given time. Different people have different needs, one device will never make everybody happy.
As to the price reductions I don't see that on current hardware but rather a new lowend device. It should be easy for them to do as the current iphone is priced rather high. Combine that with newer high integration chips and a limited feature set, a lower cost iPhone is a snap. Apple might even be able to maintain margins on the device. Apple could limit the feature set by dropping WiFi or GPS for example, do the system on a modern SoC and you are likely to get better performance at a lower cost.
The low cost iPhone won't be delivered in a vacuum either. Obviously for this to work alternative planes must be available. It is all about marketing to people with different needs.
Likewise some people don't even need that smart of a smart phone running unix. This is why I still see an iPhone Nano as a really good possibility. It is about meeting needs, as such some people would prefer a simple cell functionality with a bit of 3G mixed in. 3G mostly for iTunes.
The interesting thing here is that it is Friday and we are wound up over something that will be cleared up come Monday.
Dave
But Apple does have one iPhone Model for sale right now, just with two different-sized hard drives. Which, in my opinion is really stupid. why not integrate a cellular phone into the current iPhone Nano? Then the click-wheel could be like a rotary phone. How nostalgic would that be? Totally sh^t i know, but it would be hilarious to see. At this point who cares about storage. Since they don't make an iPod that can fit my entire collection of music and videos, I still have to have an iPod to play in the car, plus most car adapters don't work on the iPhone, you have to disengage the phone functions (yes, I know i'm sure some magical device exists, feel free to post your links below me). Sure, I don't need my entire collection of music and videos at any given moment, but it's nice to know I have it on me. Now that's just my situation. I will and am dealing with my disappointment of not being able to have one device to carry.
Cell phone history, even though short, showed that subsidized phones are more attractive and sell much more. It's common sense. Paying $400 over the next two years saves you money over paying the same amount now and people know that.
yes, this might be true but if you keep your phone longer than 2 years you're making bank on the unsubsidized phone! just don't be greedy and buy a new unlocked phone every 2 years.
So iPhone subsidies (which are made of combined voice and data plans) cut into their profits. OK. But the gist of the discussion has been that there's no way to do this without a data plan contributing to that subsidy. Your analysis isn't fine-grained enough to know that.
yeah, it cuts into their profits "probably" because Apple requires a kick-back from the data plan for themselves. Now, i have no way of knowing if other cellular phone manufacturers take a similar cut or if that was just the deal ATT worked out with Apple, but it would make sense. So basically ATT is wining for the same reason everyone on this blog is wining that ATT and Apple have some conspiracy to rip-off the consumer with some out-landish fees and plans.
Revenue from the mandatory data offsets the high cost of subsidy which in turn makes the iPhone a profitable proposition for AT&T.
WiFi coverage depends on where you are. Here in New York three to four years ago you could find lots of open unlocked WiFi signals around. Today everyone has locked their signals. The ubiquity of WiFi is becoming more dependent on subscribing to a service.
I agree 100% and, when you do have vendor supplied WiFi, they make you login or sign-up for an account that only works as long as you have a Safari window opened. Since the iPhone does not multi-task, once you close your safari window to check your email, your connections is lost and that afore mentioned WiFi that everyone thinks is EVERYWHERE and FREE is lost.
I've never had luck with getting any free WiFi unless i'm at a friends house or at home on my own router. WiFi, In my opinion, is bogus in the real world. In the Techy's dreamworld, free WiFi and internet is everywhere but that's simply not the case yet.
I can't find the specific blog but i believe AppleInsider has posted what unlocked (unsubsidized) iphones are going for over in Europe. It's crazy to think people would consider paying upwards of $750 for an iPhone. And, i can't believe that apple would price a product that is roughly 1/2 the functionality of their MacBook at about 2/3's the cost. sounds like just trying to milk it early on for R&D and future funding of the project to me. classic technology marketing.
What is not to believe. The cost of the components are not based on their performance in relation to PC components. Going small is costly.
As far as roll over, I doubt it matters to AT&T if you use all of your roll over minutes or not.
That's a huge "if." The study suggests that people are buying much larger plans than they really need. I very strongly suspect that the reason the providers offer these rollover plans is because they know that few get any benefit from them, and those who do, get only a small occasional benefit. Any feature that looks better in concept than it really is, is a good deal for the providers.
Anyway, the main point I was making here is that flat rate is not necessarily cheaper than pay-as-you-go. It's only a good deal if you use your phone a lot, and use it a lot consistently. From the way these discussions tend to go, it seems to me that many don't get the concept of people who'd really like to have the features of an advanced phone, even if they don't spend hours on it every month.