New Cheap Smartphones to Cause Trouble for Apple?

[DeltaBurnt]

Looks like the hawkers of Android wares, Amazon among them, are starting to complete aggressively on price. Amazon is selling the Samsung Captivate for $0.01 with a 2 year contract. A penny buys you a phone with some pretty beefy hardware, including 1GHz processor, 4 inch screen, and 5 megapixel camera that make it very competitive with the iPhone 4. Many previous-generation handsets, like the Motorola Droid on Verizon, are also free with 2 year contract. Will Apple continue innovating in software experience and user interfaces fast enough to combat this threat, or will being 1/10000 of the price of the cheapest iPhone be enough to win over customers?

Sounds pretty awesome to me. Now if only they could make the plans and the phones 1 cent.

Source

Amazon

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

In the end, you'll end up paying more for the plans alone than you pay for an iPhone and your current plans.

Obviously, not-so-intelligent people will immediately sign up for this, because IT'S A FREE PHONEZ!!1

 

[DeltaBurnt]

In the end, you'll end up paying more for the plans alone than you pay for an iPhone and your current plans.

Obviously, not-so-intelligent people will immediately sign up for this, because IT'S A FREE PHONEZ!!1

Yah I know that, but it's the fact that it's only $0.01 that really makes the phone appealing (even though some others are actually free). It's also just about how with the iPhone you need to pay $2-300 for the phone itself then pay the pricey plan ATT has for you.

 

[Fat D]

The only real price for the phone is the one you can get it at without signing a pact with the devil (or the carrier, whichever goes first). By the way, Vodafone here in Germany currently sells an Android phone for about €100 without any subscriptions or netlock.

 

[VashTS]

at&t is not that expensive, and you pay for the service, they do techincally give you a free phone, yes the prices are a little overcharged so you honestly pay for the phone in the end, compared to other services, like boost mobile that gives you $50 a month unlimited, we pay about $120 for two phones with unlimited data (they lie though, the data is not unlimited...i asked about tethering to my laptop and the lady said "well you will use more, so it would be $60 a month...my reply "i thought im paying for UNLIMITED data?" she said i don't know what to tell you, you will use more! sick right?) and text. we have 1700 minutes shared over 5 phones but never go over (3 are for my in laws).

this deal is better than the iphone.

 

[nando]

people that really want an iphone or any apple product, don't want anything else no matter how much cheaper or subjectively better the competing products are.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

people that really want an iphone or any apple product, don't want anything else no matter how much cheaper or subjectively better the competing products are.

Untrue.

Why do you think there are so many iPhone knockoffs?

 

[nando]

people that really want an iphone or any apple product, don't want anything else no matter how much cheaper or subjectively better the competing products are.

Untrue.

Why do you think there are so many iPhone knockoffs?

because people really want an iphone but can't afford one. doesn't change the fact that they really want one.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

people that really want an iphone or any apple product, don't want anything else no matter how much cheaper or subjectively better the competing products are.

Untrue.

Why do you think there are so many iPhone knockoffs?

because people really want an iphone but can't afford one. doesn't change the fact that they really want one.

You just contradicted yourself, y'know?

 

[nando]

people that really want an iphone or any apple product, don't want anything else no matter how much cheaper or subjectively better the competing products are.

Untrue.

Why do you think there are so many iPhone knockoffs?

because people really want an iphone but can't afford one. doesn't change the fact that they really want one.

You just contradicted yourself, y'know?

no i didn't.

 

[BakuFunn]

I hope the person who wrote this article is not a member here, or else I will think we have some very stupidly silly members.

Do you know why the phones are cheap? It's because you pay out of the nose for a plan. Most phones are under $200 now, and many have great deals. The thing is that the phones are actually incredibly expensive if you just buy them. The Captivate (Galaxy S) is at least 500+ to buy without that contract.

The carrier pays part of the phone for you.

They earn it back many many times over when you get charged in your plan.


How is this even news?

Most people with actual minds will know that the phones are there to entice you to get sucked up into their expensive plans. Here, you get a cheap phone and an expensive plan.

Free phones are and have been the norm for a long time now when you sign up for a contract.

 

[Urza]

How is this even news?

 

[ball2012003]

people that really want an iphone or any apple product,don't want anything else no matter how much cheaper or subjectively better the competing products are.

Untrue.

Why do you think there are so many iPhone knockoffs?

because people really want an iphone but can't afford one. doesn't change the fact that they really want one.

You just contradicted yourself, y'know?

no i didn't.

Yes you did.