AT&T Defends Itself Against Government Review
I'm served by 3 carriers? Or 6 even?
Sprint=Pre
T-mobile= G1 / myphone
Verizon= Storm
AT&T= iPhone
all of these phones are leading the way in how people use their handsets. I am posting this from my iPhone!
If the senate continues it's investigation it will only hurt the consumer by causing the wireless providers to raise prices to fight the FCC in a legal battle. Not to mention how samsung, lg, and HTC will react when they have to make GSM and CDMA model of every phone they want to sell here. I hope everyone wants to pay 2-3 times as much for a phone because that's what's g...
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Would you pay $800 for an unlocked storm/bold that you could use on any network? what about $1000 for the iphone?
If you want any phone any network, prices will increase, and companies will stop subsidizing phones because of how easily they could be unlocked.
Using Apple as an example, (I don't feel like looking up the numbers for RIM but they're out there,) According to Businessweek, It costs $178.96 to build the iPhone 3GS, while the iPhone 3G costs $174.33. Assuming a (generous) profit margin of 60% that's $286.336 and $278.928 for the 3GS and 3G respectively. The $800 and $1000 price you're suggesting is gouging the customer. Competition between the Device makers would keep costs down. The carriers add little to no value to this and exclusivity only serves to limit customers options.
The Carriers are looking for ways to be more than the "dumb pipes" that they are supposed to be. Device exclusivity is one way they do this. Ringtone sales is another. Verizon d...
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All that cost includes is the cost of the materials and the labor.
The second phone costs "174.33" The first phone cost millions.
Verizon opted for CDMA because of the benefits it gave them (use less towers to support a higher volume, more security for the phones, etc.)
R&D is important, too. But nowhere near the hurdle you've blown it up to be. Its absolutely no different then pharacuitical company getting a new product on the market, and a whole lot less expensive!
For older companies the transition is possible, but for newer companes (say apple if they didn't launch the iphone yet) that is a heck of a lot of money to sink into a product where no one is guaranteeing you'll sell enough to compensate for the cost. Remember, before the iphone, apple was just a computer company that made MP3 players. They developed a whole new OS, spent a ton of money working on the screen, and entered a market they had no previous history in. It's a pretty big barrier to entry. Yes, apple and google and microsoft have the money to fund it, but would they if they didn't have a carrier who had a vested interest in seeing the...
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We have:
--Verizon (the only company that bothered putting 3g here)
--ATT (nearest corporate store, still on EDGE though)
--IMMIX (a local GSM carrier that roams off of the ATT towers they haven't bought yet)
--Sprint/nextel (spotty at best, basically only working on the highway)
--Tmobile (soon, they are working on putting in towers this year/next year)
That is 5 different carriers available to a county over one hour from the closest thing that could be called a city. This isn't even counting the prepay options you can get (tracfone, virgin, etc)
Cities will have even more options, as well as suburbs.
This forum is closed.