Is the price of Mobile getting out of hand?
- I know I am a bit of a mobile junkie but I really enjoy the experience. My experience from buying my first flip phone for $300 to todays array of devices is a little mind boggling. Now it's not just a phone but also a tablet, Bluetooth headset and soon a watch to join the array. The jump from my $300 to at least $1500 a year has me wondering if anyone else is also noticing the increase. Not only has my amount of products increased but the prices of the phones has escalated quite a bit. I sometimes get the feeling that the carriers are artificially inflating the phone prices to force people to buy them on contract. So my question is, has todays mobile prices changed the way you buy devices or stopped you from buying certain ones at all?
Last edited by NFLPLAYBOOK; 10-15-2013 at 10:56 PM.
10-15-2013 01:02 PMLike 0 - Who said you HAVE to have a tablet, bluetooth headset, and smart watch?
I only buy devices I want. I don't buy just because it's sitting on the shelf at Best Buy. Hence, I do not own a tablet, bluetooth headset, or smart watch. It's pretty easy.
It only gets out of hand if you allow it to get out of hand. The dollars flying out of your wallet are by your own choice.10-15-2013 02:33 PMLike 3 - I wouldn't say the price is getting out of hand, but I only upgrade when I'm eligible to upgrade on contract. Since the monthly bill does not get any cheaper if one pays full retail and does not have a contract, I'll take the carrier subsidy and wait until I'm eligible to upgrade on contract.10-15-2013 03:00 PMLike 2
- I know I am a bit of a mobile junky but I really enjoy the experience. My experience from buying my first flip phone for $300 to todays array of devices is a little mind boggling. Now it's not just a phone but also a tablet, Bluetooth headset and soon a watch to join the array. The jump from my $300 to at least $1500 a year has me wondering if anyone else is also noticing the increase. Not only has my amount of products increased but the prices of the phones has escalated quite a bit. I sometimes get the feeling that the carriers are artificially inflating the phone prices to force people to buy them on contract. So my question is, has todays mobile prices changed the way you buy devices or stopped you from buying certain ones at all?
I CAN agree with the carrier pricing of features and usage...especially data. Data charges these days are astronomical and ridiculous.10-15-2013 03:38 PMLike 0 -
- Smartphones, now, have at least as much power as a laptop computer. Higher-end smartphones have even more power than that. With all these capabilities, $600 for a device is definitely more than reasonable. The only reason we see so many people with smartphones in the west is because of contract subsidies. If contracts didn't exist, there would be far fewer smartphone users. I also think the contracts have trained people to think that their phone is "worth" the $200 or so they paid for it when, in actuality, it's much more than that.10-15-2013 04:53 PMLike 0
- Smartphones, now, have at least as much power as a laptop computer. Higher-end smartphones have even more power than that. With all these capabilities, $600 for a device is definitely more than reasonable. The only reason we see so many people with smartphones in the west is because of contract subsidies. If contracts didn't exist, there would be far fewer smartphone users. I also think the contracts have trained people to think that their phone is "worth" the $200 or so they paid for it when, in actuality, it's much more than that.FlashFlare11 likes this.10-15-2013 05:16 PMLike 1
- Who said you HAVE to have a tablet, bluetooth headset, and smart watch?
I only buy devices I want. I don't buy just because it's sitting on the shelf at Best Buy. Hence, I do not own a tablet, bluetooth headset, or smart watch. It's pretty easy.
It only gets out of hand if you allow it to get out of hand. The dollars flying out of your wallet are by your own choice.
True the tablet and the smartwatch are overkill but they are so much fun. The bluetooth is a must.10-15-2013 10:58 PMLike 0 - Smartphones, now, have at least as much power as a laptop computer. Higher-end smartphones have even more power than that. With all these capabilities, $600 for a device is definitely more than reasonable. The only reason we see so many people with smartphones in the west is because of contract subsidies. If contracts didn't exist, there would be far fewer smartphone users. I also think the contracts have trained people to think that their phone is "worth" the $200 or so they paid for it when, in actuality, it's much more than that.
I wish the high end phones were only $600. Most of them with similar specs are running $750 +.10-15-2013 11:05 PMLike 0 - The carriers don't name the pricing of the devices...they simply make the contract stipulations and the discounts that are awarded for signing said contracts. A retail price for a device is set by the manufacturer, and is consistent regardless of where the device is purchased. Contract prices really haven't changed either in quite a while...I remember paying $200 for Blackberry's and Palms, and over $100 for the old top tier flip phones before BB was even relevant.
I CAN agree with the carrier pricing of features and usage...especially data. Data charges these days are astronomical and ridiculous.
Well they are throwing on some kind of extra handling charge. The Z ultra was released today and it's $50 more at the carrier locked than it is at Sony unlocked.10-15-2013 11:08 PMLike 0 - Everything's relative. When the RAZR V3 first came out, it was an $800 off contract deviceLaura Knotek likes this.10-15-2013 11:35 PMLike 1
- They sell ... That's why the prices keep going up. If we stopped buying them the prices would go down. Supply and demand. Up here where I'm working in Alberta (money is good) people would buy my 64 gig 5s for 1500.00 just because they can't find them anywhere.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk10-15-2013 11:37 PMLike 0 - I hear your point. I can justify why phones are so expensive....
Phones back in the day were made for one purpose. To call someone. Kapish!!
Then technology evolved. We where given the internet browser, email, messages, music,....all of these things a computer could do back in that time.
The iPhone is not a phone. Is a luxury that does the properties of a phone and WAY more.
The first time apps came to the store back in 2007, that's revolutionised the way we thought about a cellphone.
Yes many manufacturers had phones before the iPhone, but they didn't give the experience of a " phone" a tailored experience.
So the fundamentals of a phone has been blown to the curve.....
We are in the world of luxury, browsing, emailing and more just at your finger tips.
Apple have nailed this.10-16-2013 12:06 AMLike 0 - Smartphones, now, have at least as much power as a laptop computer. Higher-end smartphones have even more power than that. With all these capabilities, $600 for a device is definitely more than reasonable. The only reason we see so many people with smartphones in the west is because of contract subsidies. If contracts didn't exist, there would be far fewer smartphone users. I also think the contracts have trained people to think that their phone is "worth" the $200 or so they paid for it when, in actuality, it's much more than that.10-16-2013 12:23 AMLike 0
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And at any rate, just don't use the carrier if they are charging some arbitrary charge on top of the cost of the device. I don't see that with AT&T (which is what I use here in the states)...they charge either the subsidized contract price or the retail price which is unsubsidized...it's pretty black and white, you either get a discount with a contract or pay full retail...no fluff on the pricing. And even in your case, you said that Son is offering the phone CHEAPER in an unlocked state, so why on earth would you pay more to the carrier? It makes it very obvious that it is an erroneous pricing structure and just further defines the fact that the manufacturer names the proper retail price, and not the carrier (since the manufacturer was still offering the device at the cheaper unlocked rate).
Bottom line is this, device pricing hasn't really increased at all...the only thing that has increased is service charges, and that is something none of us can argue (or justify).10-16-2013 07:45 AMLike 0 - What's up NFLPlayBook, imagine seeing you here.....SMILE. I agree with you and I also feel that pricing has been inflated, but not only by the carriers , but also by the manufacturers. It's been a know fact that it's cheaper to make more of......anything, however that has not taken place in the current smartphone market.....it used to be that way "back in the day" and you would think with sooooooo many more smartphones in demand compared to a few years ago that prices would be less than what they are.....IMO anyway10-16-2013 07:57 AMLike 0
- What's up NFLPlayBook, imagine seeing you here.....SMILE. I agree with you and I also feel that pricing has been inflated, but not only by the carriers , but also by the manufacturers. It's been a know fact that it's cheaper to make more of......anything, however that has not taken place in the current smartphone market.....it used to be that way "back in the day" and you would think with sooooooo many more smartphones in demand compared to a few years ago that prices would be less than what they are.....IMO anyway
TLDR. A public company has a fiduciary responsibility to maximize profits for its shareholders (owners). There's no such thing as a "fair" price for something like a consumer good, just what the market will bear.10-16-2013 10:25 AMLike 0 - What's up NFLPlayBook, imagine seeing you here.....SMILE. I agree with you and I also feel that pricing has been inflated, but not only by the carriers , but also by the manufacturers. It's been a know fact that it's cheaper to make more of......anything, however that has not taken place in the current smartphone market.....it used to be that way "back in the day" and you would think with sooooooo many more smartphones in demand compared to a few years ago that prices would be less than what they are.....IMO anywaySpencerdl likes this.10-16-2013 11:18 AMLike 1
- What's up NFLPlayBook, imagine seeing you here.....SMILE. I agree with you and I also feel that pricing has been inflated, but not only by the carriers , but also by the manufacturers. It's been a know fact that it's cheaper to make more of......anything, however that has not taken place in the current smartphone market.....it used to be that way "back in the day" and you would think with sooooooo many more smartphones in demand compared to a few years ago that prices would be less than what they are.....IMO anyway
To be fully honest, pricing of these smart phones is actually a better deal (unsubsidized) than it was "back in the day" as you called it. What you get now for $600 is a substantially better product than what you got say 8 years ago, or even 5 years ago. These phones are so much more capable than they used to be...hell, I remember getting a Motorola PAGER back in the 90's and spending $350 for the thing, and it wouldn't even do alpha-numeric messages on the screen...it was strictly a numbers deal...for $350. If they had something with even half the features back then for $600, people would have gone ape sh*t over it.
Saying that a successful product should have a price lowering based on it's success is ridiculous. Businesses aren't in this game to make things easier for you to obtain, they are in it for ONE reason...money. Right now, Apple (and the other manufacturers of top tier devices) found the sweet spot between over priced/unsuccessful and underpriced/brand degrading. They've literally found a perfect target that makes retail pricing still attractive and subsidized pricing almost untouchable.sting7k likes this.10-16-2013 12:30 PMLike 1 - I'd personally like to see proof of this if you don't mind, because that makes zero sense.
And at any rate, just don't use the carrier if they are charging some arbitrary charge on top of the cost of the device. I don't see that with AT&T (which is what I use here in the states)...they charge either the subsidized contract price or the retail price which is unsubsidized...it's pretty black and white, you either get a discount with a contract or pay full retail...no fluff on the pricing. And even in your case, you said that Son is offering the phone CHEAPER in an unlocked state, so why on earth would you pay more to the carrier? It makes it very obvious that it is an erroneous pricing structure and just further defines the fact that the manufacturer names the proper retail price, and not the carrier (since the manufacturer was still offering the device at the cheaper unlocked rate).
Bottom line is this, device pricing hasn't really increased at all...the only thing that has increased is service charges, and that is something none of us can argue (or justify).
Sony Xperia Z Ultra from Bell Mobility | Bell Canada
Mobile Phones - Sony Standard CA Sony Store - Sony CA10-16-2013 01:53 PMLike 0 - What's up NFLPlayBook, imagine seeing you here.....SMILE. I agree with you and I also feel that pricing has been inflated, but not only by the carriers , but also by the manufacturers. It's been a know fact that it's cheaper to make more of......anything, however that has not taken place in the current smartphone market.....it used to be that way "back in the day" and you would think with sooooooo many more smartphones in demand compared to a few years ago that prices would be less than what they are.....IMO anywaySpencerdl likes this.10-16-2013 01:56 PMLike 1
- Who said you HAVE to have a tablet, bluetooth headset, and smart watch?
I only buy devices I want. I don't buy just because it's sitting on the shelf at Best Buy. Hence, I do not own a tablet, bluetooth headset, or smart watch. It's pretty easy.
It only gets out of hand if you allow it to get out of hand. The dollars flying out of your wallet are by your own choice.10-16-2013 02:39 PMLike 0
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