9 ms·
I love the approach here: unsubsidized or subsidized, your choice.
by symesc 17y ago
I love the approach here: unsubsidized or subsidized, your choice.
- mrkurt 17y agoIf only they were selling it at sane unsubsidized prices.
- cmgarcia 17y agoSeems pretty sane to me, compared to other HTC phones' unsubsidized prices.
- mrkurt 17y agoUnsubsidized phone prices make Oracle licensing look sane. :)
- there 17y agoand an unsubsidized, factory unlocked iphone 3gs costs $750-$1000.
- borism 17y agowhere can you get one? yeah, that's about right price for newer smartphones.
- there 17y agoebay or some random places on the web. they are all imported from hong kong. http://www.popularelect.com/product_info.php?products_id=1368 http://www.popularelect.com/product_info.php?products_id=136...
- jluxenberg 17y agoSeriously? Parts can't be more than $200 for this. I mean, they sell the iPod Touch for $200 which costs $155 to make ( http://iphonetouch.blorge.com/2007/12/19/ipod-touch-bests-iphones-internal-design-costs-155-to-make/ http://iphonetouch.blorge.com/2007/12/19/ipod-touch-bests-ip... ). Is a GSM radio IC expensive? Hell no. They're in bed with the carriers, and they're even worse than Apple because they're trying to say that they aren't.
- gaius 17y agoBecause the software is free right? (Clue: the people who wrote it were full-time Google employees).
- bvttf 17y agoClue: the software for the iPod touch wasn't found in the street either.
- gaius 17y agoWhich, umm, is why it also retails for more than its parts cost.
- jimbokun 17y agoI suppose the question is, why is the iPhone over $500 more than the iPod touch? Is there really that much hardware/software differentiation between the two to justify the increased price? I suppose the ability to make calls and access data almost anywhere makes it that much more valuable to people, or they would not be able to price it as such.
- eli 17y agoSure, and this bottle of Coke costs only $0.12 to make. What's your point? Google's not a charity. The rumors that they were going to sell the phone at a huge loss to gain market share was, frankly, silly.
- rscott 17y agoCompletely agree. I'd like to know how much they really need to actually sell these things for. iPod Touches go for, what, $500 less than an unlocked phone? This sucks. I'd love to have a 3G Android phone on ATT as well as my iPhone, just to develop on an try out, but the market makes this impossible.
- ericd 17y agoIs there a reason not to buy a subsidized phone and just eat the termination fee immediately? (I'm assuming it's ~$200, but might be different for smartphones)
- bmj 17y agoIIRC, the termination fee brings you up to the cost of the unsubsidized device.
- ericd 17y agoAh, thanks for the clarification. I was under the impression that the early termination fee was less than the difference, so that the black market value for an unsubsidized phone would be a good bit better than the official one.
- txxxxd 17y agoIts actually cheaper than all the other popular smartphones when purchased without a contract: iPhone 3Gs: $599 Palm Pre: $550 Motorola Droid: $599
- there 17y agofwiw, t-mobile is going that route with all of their phones and plans (called "even more plus"). if you sign up with them and have your own phone (or want to pay for the phone upfront), your monthly plan is less money and you have no contract. you can of course still buy subsidized phones through them for the normal monthly rate and a 2-year contract.
- pkulak 17y agoWhich kinda makes T-Mobile the only real option if you have an unlocked phone. Why spend all that money on the phone if you're still going to be paying to subsidize something you didn't buy? As long as you're happy with the service, of course.
- dareiff 17y agoT-Mobile has constantly been coming out on top as of late, (in regards to customer relations/treatment) but they still don't quite have the network though, do they? (Currently stuck on AT&T.)
- jamesbritt 17y agoAnecdotal experience with both AT&T and T-mobile in the USA (mostly southwest) says that T-mobile beats AT&T.
- jrockway 17y agoI've had the same experience. I'm pretty sure that AT&T is the worst 3G provider in the US.
- jamesbritt 17y agoRelated news: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2357692,00.asp http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2357692,00.asp "T-Mobile, AT&T Push HSPA 7.2-Mbit/s Upgrades"
- 17y ago
- FreeRadical 17y agoin uk this is the norm for all phones : )
- davidw 17y agoIn Italy most phones are sold unsubsidized. It's the exception rather than the rule to see subsidized prices. In Austria, I would say it was about 50/50.
- borism 17y agoThe problem in US isn't subsidization though. The US problem is stupid carrier exclusivity! Incredible how country that values freedom so much allows such lock-ins to exist!
- davidw 17y agoThe US is pretty weird for mobile stuff. Here in Europe, as far as I know, you basically just pop a different SIM in a phone and everything pretty much works. Also, you don't pay when someone calls you.
- ash 17y agoYeah, and you don't pay when someone sms you! By the way, that's why it was easy for Twitter to provide free sms forwarding in US (first). Operators would easily agree - they'll get the money from recipient.
- eli 17y agoSure, though it's worth noting that you could already buy and activate an unlocked phone on most carriers. Most people don't because, well, unlocked phones are expensive and you typically don't get a discount on your service fee for buying one. The cool thing here is that T-Mobile actually has a decent contract-less post-pay plan.