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There actually was no deal before, you just paid more for monthly service to cover the cost of the phone they where "discounting". It was all rolled in together so no one really knew about it.
Verizon lowered the cost of service and then charged full price for the phones.
In the end it really didn't make much difference. It is all just marketing and slight of hand pricing.
I compared the numbers on my last 2 T-Mobile contracts... In either, whether or not I renew the contract or continue with what I have off contract, I pay the same monthly fees. The only difference with the contract is a 1-time, $35 activation fee. I was shocked how others who renewed their contract ended up paying more on contract if you add up all figures, but I soon learned that my case was quite the exception
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?
No mention of iPhones? I find it's nearly 'criminal' how the iPhone 6s+ (with the larger, 5.5" screen) costs $750, but still only comes with 16 GB of storage. On the flipside, I have heard from folks have managed to sell their iPhones and get a good chunk of money to fund the purchase of the next one. Apparently, they hold their value well. I've checked some prices on Amazon for the Galaxy s7 that got released over 15 months ago. Used prices are around $450 to $550, so they seem to hold their value well, if not as well as iPhones.
There will always be early adaptors and "hard core" who buy a new $600 to $950 phone every year or 2. However, there are definitely shades of gray...
Some folks end up spending average $100 to $200 a year by buying a new mid-range phone every 2 to 3 years. They upgrade more often, but for mid-range to mid-low range phones, they spend less $$ per instance. Then you have those that do buy $600 to $950 phones, but they only do so every 4 to 8 years. It's a big chunk of change at once, but it's infrequent enough to offset the cost.
As for me, I broke the screen on my Samsung Galaxy s4 many, many months back. After getting it repaired, the touchscreen was wonky. The repair person did a lousy job, and I was left with a phone that worked, but very poor to use. Only consolation was he didn't charge me the $80. I got a used LG G4 for $220. VERY NICE PHONE. I didn't even bother researching the LG G5, the current model since I knew I didn't want to pay $500 to $650, as it's unlikely it would be worth double the price.
Is 600-800 for a top line smart phone really that expensive? Think about it for a bit and the roll back the clock a decade or two.
What would you spend on the following
A cell phone
A small computer with mobile Internet capability(handheld no less)
A high quality camera
A decent quality video recorder
A daytimer
This. I run my entire business, with revenues in middle six figures, out of a smartphone and a couple of laptops. The whole kit and caboodle cost me $5000.
The reason that Smartphones cost so much is because we keep paying it. The premium phone manufacturers know what they can charge and get away with. I mean, the Galaxy Note 7 is expected to have some versions that cost over $1000 according to news outlets and apparently the pre-order demand is higher than expected. There are many low cost options out there, I am seriously looking at switching to Google's Poject Fi. The service is a lot cheaper than my Verizion plan now and the phones seem to be able to compete with the premium models that Apple and Samsung are making.
Check out the ZTE models. Very affordable, good android phones. Priced way under what samsung charges.
I used to be a samsung guy, but got tired of paying such high prices, and found ZTE. The only way to bring down prices, is to have more competition, and spend your money on that competition.
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