2011, the year Android explodes and the dumbphone dies

[Pliablemoose]

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/12/22/2011-will-be-the-year-android-explodes/

But the kicker is the price. Tran says that phones made from the BCM2157 chipset will retail for under $100 and may dip as low as $75. Those devices should debut in just 3-6 months (and we might hear about them next month at CES).

They're talking unsubsidized for $75 to $100 for a phone that performs better than the current generation of single core 1ghz Android phone platforms...

Holy crap...

 

[Cuda1447]

The dumbphone has been dying for awhile not... its just a matter of time.

 

[thescreensavers]

Dumphones are still needed though. Many people do not want a smart phone.

The Razr is still the best dumbphone to this day. If your current Razr breaks, and you go into the store to find a replacement you will be very sad.

 

[zerocool84]

Dumphones are still needed though. Many people do not want a smart phone.

The Razr is still the best dumbphone to this day. If your current Razr breaks, and you go into the store to find a replacement you will be very sad.

Oh of course but this is going to be able to put smartphones into almost everyone.

 

[thescreensavers]

^ 200 bucks now is pretty cheap. For what you have to pay monthly its not to expensive.

If someone pays 50, 75 bucks for a phone it still wont matter much since they will have to be 60+ a month.

So its not really that huge affordability. If someone can afford the data plan then they will pay the 200 bucks.

If someone cant they wont buy a smart phone even if its free. But they sure will be enticed.

 

[Pliablemoose]

The lower phone price and prepaid options like Virgin is offering will change things, I wonder which carrier will go for marketshare first?

 

[OBLAMA2009]

The lower phone price and prepaid options like Virgin is offering will change things, I wonder which carrier will go for marketshare first?

i saw this article a few days ago and i am hoping that the whole model for how phones are sold will change from the carrier subsidized model. right now smart phones are just way too expensive to buy unsubsidized. id be much happier paying $300 for an unsubsidized phones than 200 for subsidized ones so i could replace more often, esp when a phone is a dud like my blackberry tour. 100 would be even better.

i remember reading an article in forbes a year ago about how companies like boost were going to make prepaid monthly fees much lower but that hasnt affected prices at verizon, sprint and att at all. how is it that prepaid companies are able to offer service on other networks at such a low price when the carriers themselves charge several times that much per month. are companies like sprint, verizon and att overcharging that much?? i havent looked at prepaid companies other than the virgin offer posted here but do others offer similar deals?

 

[Pliablemoose]

No one offers a deal like Virgin yet...

But with smartphones that cost $75/$100 retail one of the carriers will blink sooner or later. Virgin is owned by Sprint, so essentially, Sprint is trying out the idea, and will have a headstart.

 

[zerocool84]

i saw this article a few days ago and i am hoping that the whole model for how phones are sold will change from the carrier subsidized model. right now smart phones are just way too expensive to buy unsubsidized. id be much happier paying $300 for an unsubsidized phones than 200 for subsidized ones so i could replace more often, esp when a phone is a dud like my blackberry tour. 100 would be even better.

i remember reading an article in forbes a year ago about how companies like boost were going to make prepaid monthly fees much lower but that hasnt affected prices at verizon, sprint and att at all. how is it that prepaid companies are able to offer service on other networks at such a low price when the carriers themselves charge several times that much per month. are companies like sprint, verizon and att overcharging that much?? i havent looked at prepaid companies other than the virgin offer posted here but do others offer similar deals?

*sigh*

We've had TONS of threads on this and currently have an active thread on this, prepaid is cheaper per month because you have to eat the total cost of the phone. $300 unsubsidized is only going to get you a low end smartphone anyways.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

*sigh*

We've had TONS of threads on this and currently have an active thread on this, prepaid is cheaper per month because you have to eat the total cost of the phone. $300 unsubsidized is only going to get you a low end smartphone anyways.

is that really true? 179 for an android phone? 15 for a dumb phone?

 

[Pliablemoose]

i saw this article a few days ago and i am hoping that the whole model for how phones are sold will change from the carrier subsidized model. right now smart phones are just way too expensive to buy unsubsidized. id be much happier paying $300 for an unsubsidized phones than 200 for subsidized ones so i could replace more often, esp when a phone is a dud like my blackberry tour. 100 would be even better.

i remember reading an article in forbes a year ago about how companies like boost were going to make prepaid monthly fees much lower but that hasnt affected prices at verizon, sprint and att at all. how is it that prepaid companies are able to offer service on other networks at such a low price when the carriers themselves charge several times that much per month. are companies like sprint, verizon and att overcharging that much?? i havent looked at prepaid companies other than the virgin offer posted here but do others offer similar deals?

WTF did you buy a Tour for?

 

[shortylickens]

The stripped down versions of Android running on cheap phones wont really improve the cellular community. Unless it encourages people to finally make the jump to smartphones.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

WTF did you buy a Tour for?

i got it a year and a half ago around the time droid came out. blackberry is sooo far behind iphone and android in terms of hardware and software, esp when it comes to internet. i cant believe anyone will be buying rim a year from now. everyone says bb is great for business--like business people dont need decent web access?????

 

[Pliablemoose]

The stripped down versions of Android running on cheap phones wont really improve the cellular community. Unless it encourages people to finally make the jump to smartphones.

The chipset specs:

• Single-chip, single-die, 7.2Mbps HSDPA baseband processor with integrated multimedia acceleration, full mixed-signal audio, high-speed USB, and dual high-performance applications and communications CPU
• Advanced, release 5/6-compliant, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA modem with Class 32 EDGE
• Supports Broadcom's PRISM advanced receiver capabilities, including intercell interference cancellation
• Supports WB-AMR (3G) voice calls
• 3G Dual SIM / Dual Standby
• Portable WiFi Hotspot Support
• InConcert® wireless connectivity technology supporting fully concurrent usage
• Supports Android 2.2 (Froyo)
• Up to HVGA display
• Utilizes the low-cost, low-power, 65 nm digital CMOS process

http://www.broadcom.com/products/Cellular/3G-Baseband-Processors/BCM2157

Not only will Broadcom's chipset give them a leg up in the US on lower end sales, think of the 3rd world sales... They'll buy smartphones with Android and just use WiFi where it's available, things like Google maps with cached data will change their lives for less than the price of a cheap GPS unit....

 

[sham63]

I have been looking at the T-Mobile Comet for my T-Mobile to Go account, I may just wait a few months and see how this turns out. I thought the $180 price of the Comet was pretty cheap, but if this is true it will be worth waiting for.

Jim

 

[cbn]

Perhaps more importantly, at $100, many first-world shoppers will forgo the subsidized two year contracts and instead choose month to month plans. That price point takes the power away from the carriers. If T-Mobile is having a special and I can just take my AT&T phone over without being hit with early termination fees, the carriers are much more likely to compete for customers.

That, in turn will likely push data prices down. We are already starting to see this happen. Virgin offers a $25/month unlimited data plan off contract. T-Mobile offers a limited $10 date plan off contract. AT&T has tiers that start very low.

Consumers used to feature phone monthly costs of $30/month may even opt to forgo wireless data altogether, instead choosing to use the smartphone's built in Wifi radio to surf near-ubiquitous Wifi in homes, at work and about town. To entice low end smartphone users away from just using Wifi, carriers will have to make affordable data plans.

Cheap smartphones could change the way carriers price contracts here in the U.S.

Whatever the case, if you thought Android going from 30,000 activations a day to 300,000 activations/day was impressive, 2011 might be an even bigger growth year for Android.

Really interesting theory here on how the cheap hardware could change the way service plans are billed.

However, I am having a hard time believing in a migration from post-paid to pre-paid unless the top end subsidized smartphones actually become overkill.

I do think these phones could encourage more people to transition from dumbphones to smartphones though.

 

[cbn]

The lower phone price and prepaid options like Virgin is offering will change things, I wonder which carrier will go for marketshare first?

I think things could get interesting if this hardware lets Sprint grab marketshare away from Verizon/AT&T/T-mobile voice customers, but then how would those carriers respond back?

Maybe AT&T will start up its own low cost prepaid (similar to Sprint's virgin) and just let users run with old iphone 3G or whatever?

 

[Puddle Jumper]

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/12/22/2011-will-be-the-year-android-explodes/



They're talking unsubsidized for $75 to $100 for a phone that performs better than the current generation of single core 1ghz Android phone platforms...

Holy crap...

The only specs I've been able to find on the BCM2157 list the cpu core as a 500mhz ARM11 which won't make anyone with a Snapdragon or Hummingbird based phone lose any sleep. That is on par with phones like the HTC Aria though so if manufactures can avoid loading the phones with bloated custom UI's it should be able to deliver a aceptable experience.

 

[Pliablemoose]

The only specs I've been able to find on the BCM2157 list the cpu core as a 500mhz ARM11 which won't make anyone with a Snapdragon or Hummingbird based phone lose any sleep. That is on par with phones like the HTC Aria though so if manufactures can avoid loading the phones with bloated custom UI's it should be able to deliver a aceptable experience.

I found this:

The dual-core processors will run at 500-800mhz.

 

[Axon]

The lower phone price and prepaid options like Virgin is offering will change things, I wonder which carrier will go for marketshare first?

The second any of the carriers offers me a modern smartphone without a contract, I'll pay whatever price to bust my contract and go with them. Metro PCS is almost there, but their current Android options leave a bit to be desired for me. I can't stand these obnoxious contracts and their unconscionable terms. Customers don't exist to get s**t on - and their terms s**t all over you, especially if something happens to your phone - but wireless companies seem to think we do. They have the leverage right now. Soon the public will.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I found this:

I saw that but without knowing the architecture we can't draw any conclusions about it's performance. The only mention of it I could find was that line about ARM11 from the broadcom site. I suppose it could be a dual core ARM11 cpu but even then it would likely be demolished by hummingbird, especially if it has a lower clock speed.

 

[A5]

The second any of the carriers offers me a modern smartphone without a contract, I'll pay whatever price to bust my contract and go with them. Metro PCS is almost there, but their current Android options leave a bit to be desired for me. I can't stand these obnoxious contracts and their unconscionable terms. Customers don't exist to get s**t on - and their terms s**t all over you, especially if something happens to your phone - but wireless companies seem to think we do. They have the leverage right now. Soon the public will.

T-Mobile has their Even More Plus plans (cheaper monthly rate but unsubsidized phone and no contract), but they're only available in-store.

 

[Jumpem]

The problem is the price of text and data plans. I'd have to pay $20-40 more a month per line. Just to be able to use the internet while I am not at work or home.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

The problem is the price of text and data plans. I'd have to pay $20-40 more a month per line. Just to be able to use the internet while I am not at work or home.

If you are already paying for data there is no need for a texting plan, just use Google Voice.

 

[Jumpem]

If you are already paying for data there is no need for a texting plan, just use Google Voice.

I don't pay for any of it. I just have a basic low minute family plan with basic texting for my wife. All of these smart phones require people to substantially increase their monthly cell phone bill.