Verizon killing contracts

nodle

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I am sure everyone saw that Verizon is doing away with contracts and making you purchase your cell phones outright now. Think this is a better deal, or just another way to stick it to the customer?
 
Interesting, everyone used to love the idea of no contracts (= no termination fees and such), but yeah, the customer will pay for it in the end. It will still be all expensive.
 
Depends on how low they make their plan prices without contracts. In general having no subsidy built into your plan should be a better deal.

Previously, say you go get a $800+ device and only have to pay a little bit up front. The cost of that device was built into what you were paying over the course of your contract terms. If you went even one month past your upgrade date, you were still paying $X extra for the device, even though it's now paid for.

ATT started offering no contract plans with no subsidies quite a while ago, and I think it is a much better deal. My monthly bill went down drastically. Pay for the amount of data you want and a cheap add the phone to data. On ATT, it is say $100 for 15 GB of data a month. If I have a subsidized phone, it's $40 a month to put it on that plan. If I buy my phone and have no subsidy it is $15 - so $600 over a normal 2 year period cheaper to just pay for my phone outright. THey also have their Next plan, which will just take the price of the phone, divide it by a chosen amount of time (12 months, 18 months, etc). So I could choose to stay off contract, get a $600 phone and pay an extra $50 a month on it to have the phone paid for in 12 months.

People that won't like it are those that can't afford to just go buy an $600-800 dollar windows or android phone, or the $800-1200 iPhones. Personally I prefer not having a contract, if I want to keep my phone for quite a while I can save a lot of money. If I want to upgrade my phone I can buy a new one, sell my old one to make up a bit of the price, and I don't have to extend contract terms or jump through hoops to do it.

This is also why cheap smartphones have been really pushing into markets overseas (where subsidies are long dead). I read that Google is bringing back an older phone to push into the sub $100 market, and why Microsoft has had success with phones like the 640 and 640 XL. These are all pretty cheap devices compared to their "flagship" counterparts, but offer all the same functionality, most of the frills, but slightly less premium components/casings. Yet all are actually very decent devices.

 
Also, initially US carriers are offering both subsidized and non-subsidized plans. While they have historically preferred the subsidizing of devices and contracts to lock customers into service, I see this turning around and the carriers are now in a position that they are better off to just compete on service/fees and leave the phone cost to customers. If they do subsidize a $1000+ phone, how much do they really make on a 2 year contract aside from the fees for service? If someone cancels or just quits paying they are out the cost of both.

By letting customers save some money and having the customer purchase phones outright, or sign a separate agreement to essentially lease a phone, they limit their liability and potentially increase their profits (by drawing in more of the customers that were not willing to sign contracts and have gone to other carriers already offering no contract pricing).

 
I was reading more about this. Seems like everyone is now dropping contracts and making you buy outright. Also read that this will make cheap cell phones on the rise and will actually hurt Apple since the cheaper ones use Android.
 
I get mine through work right now, so no problems there, but would have no problem going with a cheap flip phone. I will just use the one I got 2 years ago.
 
I get mine through work right now, so no problems there, but would have no problem going with a cheap flip phone. I will just use the one I got 2 years ago.
Well who in their right mind is gonna want to pay out of pocket for a new Iphone and $600 +?
 
Well who in their right mind is gonna want to pay out of pocket for a new Iphone and $600 +?
Exactly, I wouldn't, they are addicting, but love the basic flip phone.

 
Anyone that owns a smartphone today (unless your employer paid for it) has paid $600+ for their smartphone for the most part. You just didn't have to have the full amount up front and signed a contract and paid more than the actual cost of the phone over the term of your contract.
 
Out of curiosity on what iPhones really cost a person

Pricing at both ATT and VZW were the same

  • iPhone 6
     
    $650 for 16Gb
     
     
     
  • $750 for 64Gb
     
     
     
  • $850 for 128Gb
     
     
     




[*]iPhone 6 Plus

  • $750 for 16Gb
     
     
     
  • $850 for 64GB
     
     
     
  • $950 for 128 GB
     
     
     







So, the 6 plus with 128Gb of storage would run you nearly an extra $40 a month on your bill to pay for it with 24 monthly payments over a 2 year contract.

 
There's a plethora of decent cheap smartphones. This is why cheap androids rule markets outside of the US, and why Windows Phone has better market share outside of the use (cheap phones that have decent specs like 635, 640 and 640XL).

Flagship phones like the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Lumia 1020/1520 continue to be made, but as more carriers move to a model where the actual cost of the phone is transparent, they will be show case devices. Top end specs in nearly every way with all the bells and whistles - but low to mid range smart phones are where mass sales will occur. This fall I will not be at all surprised if the new mid-range phones heavily outsell new flagship phones in the US.

 
Sprint Announces New "iPhone Forever" Plan to Always Keep You Up to Date

The new plan, from the nation’s fourth largest carrier, allows customers to pay $22 a month to always guarantee a new iPhone. This is on top of the normal $60 individual plan, for a total of $82/month. Once you’re on this plan, if you have an older iPhone and want a newer one, you just walk into the store and get one.

 
Sprint Announces New "iPhone Forever" Plan to Always Keep You Up to DateThe new plan, from the nation’s fourth largest carrier, allows customers to pay $22 a month to always guarantee a new iPhone. This is on top of the normal $60 individual plan, for a total of $82/month. Once you’re on this plan, if you have an older iPhone and want a newer one, you just walk into the store and get one.
Well the first problem with this, is that you have to be a Sprint customer. I think they've come a ways, but I still don't think their coverage in many areas is very good.Beyond that it "seems" like it could be a good deal up front. Customers likely just need to be very careful with their phones and read the fine print. Each carrier has these kinds of plans under different names - which are essentially a phone leasing program. The fine print almost always requires returning the phone in near mint condition. The idea here is you lease the phone for like $260 a year (since there's probably only about once a year you're going to trade up) - and the returned phone is in good enough condition they can lease it out to someone else, or sell it through other channels. Honestly, the consumer will come out better purchasing a phone at full price up front, being just as careful with it (or carrying insurance) and reselling the phone on the market themselves (especially if you get the device unlocked) - this is true of pretty much every smartphone out there. One year old they retain a lot of value - get much older than that and they become must less valuable.

 
I think now that we will all have to pay full prices for phones now, this will sway others (like myself) to go away from iphones and go to other brands.
 
Should be easier to get a flagship phone
Not sure if that is "It should be made easier" or that the removal of contracts "should result in making it easier".Flagships are easy to get, you just gotta be willing to pay the $$$ for them.

 
Not sure if that is "It should be made easier" or that the removal of contracts "should result in making it easier".Flagships are easy to get, you just gotta be willing to pay the $$$ for them.
Point taken. I think after a period of time the price of popular phones will decrease. My other hope is that it makes switching providers easier.
 
I actually see a lot of people going with those Straight talk phones these days. Unlimited everything and can use any tower.
 
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