T-Mobile looking to do away with 2 year contracts

[ugahairydawgs]

Saw this article while looking around this morning.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/03/...-year-contract-requirement-others-may-follow/

If the carriers ditch the 2 year contract (and the subsidy that goes along with it), how does Apple keep it's market share? Obviously $649/$749/$849 are price points that most cannot justify. Google has already shown they can get flagship phones out the door for $300, but they do so at a loss and let their ad services subsidize it on the back end. Apple doesn't have that luxury (nor does most other phone manufacturers for that matter).

If this were to happen and, for the sake of argument, we assume that AT&T, Verizon and Sprint all jump on board too......how does that effect the smartphone market and how does Apple, Blackberry, LG, Nokia, and Samsung respond?

 

[MisterKeeks]

Apple doesn't have that luxury

Apple does get the 30% cut on apps. I would be interested to see how much money that makes.

 

[chown33]

Apple does get the 30% cut on apps. I would be interested to see how much money that makes.

You can calculate it from Apple's public statements about how much they've paid developers. Since developers get 70%, and Apple has paid X dollars out from the App Store, what is Apple's gross revenue split?

 

[SpyderBite]

This is just T-Mo. They're simply joining the ranks of Virgin and StraightTalk and other similar services. The only difference is that they have their own network.

If they had even 1/100th of the customer base of VZW or AT&T they would never have even considered this move.

 

[Plutonius]

In the place of subsidies, the carriers will have financing. I'm not too sure how it will work since the US consumer is so used to subsidized phones.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

This is just T-Mo. They're simply joining the ranks of Virgin and StraightTalk and other similar services. The only difference is that they have their own network.

If they had even 1/100th of the customer base of VZW or AT&T they would never have even considered this move.

http://www.androidcentral.com/verizon-exec-expects-lte-only-phones-2014-subsidies-decrease-over-time

 

[rdowns]

This is a good move. Subsidized phones are a ****ing scam as once your two year commitment is up, you do not receive a lower monthly rate. It's insane that I still pay the same rate after my phone is paid for. It's also beneficial for those who like to upgrade their phones more often that the carrier will allow.

This is just T-Mo. They're simply joining the ranks of Virgin and StraightTalk and other similar services. The only difference is that they have their own network.

If they had even 1/100th of the customer base of VZW or AT&T they would never have even considered this move.

1/100th, huh?

The top 8 wireless telecommunications service providers in the United States, from largest to smallest by the number of current subscribers, are:
AT&T Mobility (107.0 million)[1]
Verizon Wireless (98.2 million)[2]
Sprint Nextel (55.6 million)[3]
T-Mobile USA (33.3 million)[4]
TracFone Wireless (22.4 million)[5]
MetroPCS (8.9 million)[6]
U.S. Cellular (5.9 million)[7]
Leap Wireless (Cricket Communications) (5.3 million)[8]

 

[Liquorpuki]

The top 8 wireless telecommunications service providers in the United States, from largest to smallest by the number of current subscribers, are:
AT&T Mobility (107.0 million)[1]
Verizon Wireless (98.2 million)[2]
Sprint Nextel (55.6 million)[3]
T-Mobile USA (33.3 million)[4]
TracFone Wireless (22.4 million)[5]
MetroPCS (8.9 million)[6]
U.S. Cellular (5.9 million)[7]
Leap Wireless (Cricket Communications) (5.3 million)[8]

Everything below T-Mobile sucks. Only good thing about Sprint is it's cheap, especially if you got hooked you up with an employee discount plan 7 years ago and are still only paying $30 for an iPhone + data.

MetroPCS is good if you're poor and live in the hood. Once you leave the hood you find out you have no service and that feature phone you paid $300 for is useless. MetroPCS is what you use when you're too good to use a payphone. Hello hello hellooooo

 

[DamnDJ]

I got my Note 2 with this. No device contract, paying full price for the phone, but paying monthly installments for 2 years. I can pay the phone off at any time and instantly be elegible for a new phone. Sounds like a great deal to me.