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A 64 gig iPhone 6s has about $245 worth of parts in it. A 128 gig 6s is only a few dollars more product cost and Apple gets $100 for it. Those phones retail for $749/$849. Apple stock is $108.18 at the market close. Guess why that is?
I own a 128 GB 6s. I can afford it. I tend to wait 4 years to upgrade phones and went from a 4s to a 6s. I can afford the $200/year for the phone.
I do the same thing, upgrade every 4 years, and usually buy the latest and greatest at that time.
Now if I didn't have the money, I would carry a very basic smart phone that is older, but still available new. Lots are available now for not much money.
For the longest many people signed 2 yr contracts and usually got a high end smart phone for $200. I know the carrier just charged a bit more for the plan and the end result was still typically about $4-600 for the phone or about $5-600 if you bought it out right.
Now with contracts going away and peoples bills being a bit lower, I see smartphones with prices of typically $600-$800+, which is insane. The phones are only about $2-300 to build tops, so I can even understand $400 to maybe $500 for one, but when a Galaxy 7 Note is $850, a Galaxy 7 is $789, and $600 for just about anything else LG, HTC , etc, these phones arent even worth $300 1 year later.
I know the American way is to pay little by little for everything and ignore the outright cost and is probably the reason why even small to medium sized cars are pushing $30k, but do you think the prices of smartphones would go back down if the general public stopped doing installment payments and were buying these phones outright?
I was paying 28 bucks a month for two years with TMobile interest free. Paying 600+ at once sounds worse (and often isn't possible) but all in all I think it's money well spent. I use my phone for a lot. Even my laptop doesn't get as much use. Compared to other expenses, 300 a year for something I use so much doesn't seem so bad.
I certainly won't pay that much. I just last month bought a new Samsung Galaxy J3 and paid less than $200, including tax. It is running on marshmallow. I bought it so I could play Pokemon Go; the phone I had was running kitkat and so I could not install PG.
That's the same phone I bought last month, but for only $80! It was on sale at Best Buy. My previous cell phone was an 11-year-old basic flip phone from Virgin Mobile.... the thing that prompted me to replace it, finally, was that my home internet service was on the blink and the smartphone can act as a wifi hotspot (Boost Mobile includes 2GB data in their $35 plan).
I can't see spending hundreds of dollars on a phone, either -- I'd worry that it would get damaged/lost/stolen. I suppose that for some people a $700 phone is a status symbol, but what functionality do you actually get for that extra money? The J3 seemed to hit the "sweet spot" of being reasonably featureful (good-quality screen, adequate amount of memory, etc) but not over-spec'ed or overpriced for my needs.
For the longest many people signed 2 yr contracts and usually got a high end smart phone for $200. I know the carrier just charged a bit more for the plan and the end result was still typically about $4-600 for the phone or about $5-600 if you bought it out right.
Now with contracts going away and peoples bills being a bit lower, I see smartphones with prices of typically $600-$800+, which is insane. The phones are only about $2-300 to build tops, so I can even understand $400 to maybe $500 for one, but when a Galaxy 7 Note is $850, a Galaxy 7 is $789, and $600 for just about anything else LG, HTC , etc, these phones arent even worth $300 1 year later.
I know the American way is to pay little by little for everything and ignore the outright cost and is probably the reason why even small to medium sized cars are pushing $30k, but do you think the prices of smartphones would go back down if the general public stopped doing installment payments and were buying these phones outright?
The people who make and provide service for these phones, have been carefully setting you up for years to need what they provide. And now that they have so many hooked on them, they're lowering the boom and harvesting big money. Those like me who grew up without them and can do nicely with the old-fashioned ways of communicating (like E-Mail) can be immune to this money-grab. My little $20. dull-normal cellphone is all I need.
People need smartphones today because that is the means by which society communicates now. If you don't have a job or social connections that require it, then it's irrelevant, but most of us do.
My dad refused to use the internet & would only send letters or call. The result was that he lost touch with people who didn't communicate in those ways anymore. Its amazing to me when older people think the world should stop progressing beyond the point they were at their prime. My dad thought that everything that happened past 1989 or so was stupid.
I can survive without electricity... that would save me money every month. But my house is not configured for that. I cannot buy a house configured for that unless I buy land way out of town and custom build a house.
The world does not revolve around what I think is proper.
I expect when I'm old to be complaining about whatever the kids are spending money on too.. They'll be paying for virtual reality implants or something and I'll talk about how all we needed in my day was a Galaxy Note.
People need smartphones today because that is the means by which society communicates now. If you don't have a job or social connections that require it, then it's irrelevant, but most of us do.
My dad refused to use the internet & would only send letters or call. The result was that he lost touch with people who didn't communicate in those ways anymore. Its amazing to me when older people think the world should stop progressing beyond the point they were at their prime. My dad thought that everything that happened past 1989 or so was stupid.
I can survive without electricity... that would save me money every month. But my house is not configured for that. I cannot buy a house configured for that unless I buy land way out of town and custom build a house.
The world does not revolve around what I think is proper.
I expect when I'm old to be complaining about whatever the kids are spending money on too.. They'll be paying for virtual reality implants or something and I'll talk about how all we needed in my day was a Galaxy Note.
I get it, but I still cringe every month when paying my Comcast and Verizon bills.
Now with contracts going away and peoples bills being a bit lower, I see smartphones with prices of typically $600-$800+, which is insane. The phones are only about $2-300 to build tops, so I can even understand $400 to maybe $500 for one,
That is pretty normal.. you could understand if they only charged $100 more then it cost to build? Good thing you aren't in business.
You should charge 3 times what it cost to build. Minimum. This is a pretty standard rule.
That $30,000 car cost $10,000 for GM to build. Are you OK with that?
Last edited by Peregrine; 08-13-2016 at 09:11 AM..
Tmobile did away with 2 year agreements and started the whole buy it outright, but make small payments and now the others have followed. You dont have to be on a contract to make 24 monthly payments, as you simply owe the remaining balance of the phone if you decide to leave that carrier.
A $789 out the door S7 Edge vs $33 a month for 2 years is still a $800 phone after taxes. The reason I say these prices are insane is because you can actually buy a full blown laptop with a HD screen cheaper than a phone now or even a tablet with the same specs of the phone for a few hundred cheaper.
The carriers will get away with these prices as long as the general public lets them, just like they did charging people $10-20 a month for text messaging in the past and its now free because it cost a little to nothing to send a text back then and now, but it took carrier like Metro to offer it for free before others followed.
My last Phones
2015 LG G3 - bought 1yr old for $300
2013 Nexus 4 -New for $350
2011 Nexus 3- New for $300
2009 Touch HD Pro - 6 months old used for $250
2008 Pharos 637- New $600
Outside of the Pharos which was pretty much a top of the line Windows Mobile phone before the whole smartphone craze started, these high end phones still capped about $450-600, but are now close to $1000 now, with batteries that dont come out, no removable storage in some models, and a OS that slows down the phone each time a new version comes out. They are still as mobile as before 6 years ago when they Bluetooth, GPS & all and were $400-500 brand new.
There really aren't a lot of $1,000 Android phones. You are exaggerating. LG's 2 best phones are under $700. Motos best phone is under $700. HTC, as well.
Pretty much only the Note comes near the $1,000 mark. The Edge S7 being the next closest.
That's 2 phones....from 1 company.
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