How important will Prepaid service be for the Smartphone Industry?

[cbn]

Lately, I have seen a good deal of posts and articles related to how smartphone hardware is getting cheaper.

What are your opinions on manufacturers using Prepaid carriers as a way to get new buyers interested in their OS?

Currently both RIM and Google have phones on Prepaid Service.

 

[shortylickens]

It seems like most carriers want desperately to have maximum control over your phone and service so they can milk you for every dollar you have. For the industry I think its good that little prepaid guys are finally jumping in to smart phones cuz it will force them to be more competitive.

Wait......
:hmm:

Thats not at all good for the industry. Its good for the consumer, not the provider.

I dont know about the rest of you guys, but when my Verizon contract is up I'm switching to Virgin, and if theres some way I can fix my Droid to go over to their service too, I will do so.

 

[mammador]

Depends. If people can afford the higher upfront prepaid cost, then perhaps.

Even still, prepaid is better IMO than contract/postpaid. At least if you don't like the phone, you can sell it quickly or just let the account go dormant, or scrap the phone and keep the SIM. but in a contract, you're bound to their stipulations and whims.

 

[cbn]

For the industry I think its good that little prepaid guys are finally jumping in to smart phones cuz it will force them to be more competitive.

Wait......
:hmm:

Thats not at all good for the industry. Its good for the consumer, not the provider.

How about for Operating systems?

For example, Android has a great roadmap on both software and hardware. It would seem to me being able to get that OS on a cheaper phone/service could be a major factor influencing the decision of a consumer upgrading to better hardware/service.

Why bother with the learning curve of another device if Android has most of the bases covered?

P.S. Surely the other OS vendors realize this. I am just wondering how they will respond or innovate? (I am mainly thinking of the ones with lower market share such as Windows 7 Phone, HP Web OS and Meego)

 

[CptObvious]

There's definitely a demand for it. I for one don't wanted to be locked down into paying ~$85/month after taxes for 2 years of phone service. T-Mobile is offering their prepaid smartphone plans, the most attractive of which is $70/month for unlimited talk time and 2GB of data. I was about to jump on it but the LG Comet they had sold out.

 

[Ika]

The thought of paying for an unsubsidized phone is a little bit scary. Suddenly a "$200" phone you've been wanting turns into $600-700, and it no longer looks appealing.

That said, look into PagePlus. Verizon network, no data, but super cheap prepaid minutes/texting.

 

[theeedude]

Virgin's $150 Optimus V + $25 smartphone plan looks very appealing. Granted they let you use their mediocre phones only, but after a couple years, mediocre phone is going to be good enough for most users.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

how in the long run can verizon and att keep charging 100 a month when you can get prepaid phones from virgin for 25? and how can virgin charge only 25 if they dont even own the network they are on. id think sprint would charge them more than that

 

[OBLAMA2009]

The thought of paying for an unsubsidized phone is a little bit scary. Suddenly a "$200" phone you've been wanting turns into $600-700, and it no longer looks appealing.

That said, look into PagePlus. Verizon network, no data, but super cheap prepaid minutes/texting.

those phones dont cost anywhere near 600. virgin sells phones for 150 that verizon sells for twice that.

 

[zerocool84]

how in the long run can verizon and att keep charging 100 a month when you can get prepaid phones from virgin for 25? and how can virgin charge only 25 if they dont even own the network they are on. id think sprint would charge them more than that

Because people want the latest phones and are obviously scared of paying full price for a phone. The best smartphone on any pre-paid carrier seems to be the LG Optimus V which is still a low-end smartphone.

 

[cbn]

Because people want the latest phones and are obviously scared of paying full price for a phone. The best smartphone on any pre-paid carrier seems to be the LG Optimus V which is still a low-end smartphone.

A certain point will come though when mainstream smartphone hardware will probably be good enough to do a lot of tasks normally done on PCs.

That atrix 4G with Tegra 2 looks pretty impressive already. Dual cortex A9s @ 1GHz and 1Gb of RAM<---That is pretty close to the hardware spec of a current atom netbook.

That makes me wonder how Carriers will push the device makers to keep us wanting more?

P.S. I'll bet Tegra 2 has a good chance of being included on prepaid smartphones in a few years.

 

[zerocool84]

A certain point will come though when mainstream smartphone hardware will probably be good enough to do a lot of tasks normally done on PCs.

That atrix 4G with Tegra 2 looks pretty impressive already. Dual cortex A9s @ 1GHz and 1Gb of RAM<---That is pretty close to the hardware spec of a current atom netbook.

That makes me wonder how Carriers will push the device makers to keep us wanting more?

P.S. I'll bet Tegra 2 has a good chance of being included on prepaid smartphones in a few years.

It will but since almost every prepaid carrier is owned by one of the larger carriers, they will make sure only much lesser phones are on the prepaid carriers.

 

[cbn]

It will but since almost every prepaid carrier is owned by one of the larger carriers, they will make sure only much lesser phones are on the prepaid carriers.

Yes, but there are carriers like Metro PCS that should be able to put pressure on them.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Yes, but there are carriers like Metro PCS that should be able to put pressure on them.

In a perfect world, yes... In our world, not so much.

 

[cbn]

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=20894

A prepaid iphone?

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Because people want the latest phones and are obviously scared of paying full price for a phone. The best smartphone on any pre-paid carrier seems to be the LG Optimus V which is still a low-end smartphone.

yeah i agree that is the case now. i pay for verizon and att because that is the only way to get high end phones like droid x and iphone but at some point higher performance phones are going to make it to virgin etc... and the contract companies are going to have to budge a little on price, i would think