Considering that Verizon went
way out of its way to get noticed on
iDay, it follows logic to think that it, along with a handful of other rivals, would at least consider slashing prices temporarily in order to
redirect attention from the oft-hyped
iPhone. Interestingly, none of that actually proved true, as Verizon went so far as to raise the prices of a number of handsets, while neither T-Mobile nor Sprint introduced any huge discounts in order to garner attention. Reportedly, AT&T was the carrier that implemented the most price cuts, as the
Pearl,
KRZR, and
N75 all saw lower prices surrounding the iPhone launch. Of course, it could be that competing carriers simply succumbed to the fact that those eying an iPhone weren't likely to be tempted by anything else, and for all intensive purposes, they'd be absolutely
correct.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
lopes @ Jul 15th 2007 11:32PM
for all intents and purposes.
El Payo @ Jul 16th 2007 12:37AM
Thank you lopes.
byaah @ Jul 16th 2007 1:36AM
Wow. Sorry, but that one was pretty bad.
tsukata @ Jul 26th 2007 11:22AM
You never know. Maybe he meant really intense purposes. :) Those iPhone users are craaaaazzzy.
mingkee @ Jul 15th 2007 11:36PM
T-Mobile does not sit and wait to die
at least they pushed out 1k N/W rare plan, and @Home services
Sprint has SERO offer
carlo @ Jul 15th 2007 11:41PM
Wait, lowering prices isn't a sure-fired way to get attention, especially when the iPhone handset is already far pricier than the majority of other handsets that carriers here in the U.S. offer.
Also, the iPhone has a type of hype that throwing alternative handsets at a lower price will curb. It would be a waste of money to address hype that really isn't going to last all that long.
We have to remember that the iPhone changed the game quite a bit. Carriers and independent companies can now charge a LOT more money for phones and a lot of people apparently want pretty flash animated interfaces on small slim phones. They also aren't so afraid of touchscreens.
So, since the iPhone changed the game, it is better to take a wait and see approach. Save hype resources for newer devices that will come out that can answer to the iPhone.
We've seen what happens when quick reactions guide cell phone producer hands--the HTC Touch? (yuck)
carlo @ Jul 15th 2007 11:42PM
"Also, the iPhone has a type of hype that throwing alternative handsets at a lower price will [NOT NECESSARILY] curb."
typo
infara @ Jul 16th 2007 1:24AM
You just lost a lot of style points in my book due to your "intensive purposes"
Jeff @ Jul 16th 2007 2:44AM
YadaYadaYada.....T-Mob needs to hurry up and give us loyal customers the 3g we deserve. Verizon should stop crippling their devices and Sprint needs to master the art of good customer service.
Verizon customer @ Jul 16th 2007 1:06PM
I'm in the market for two PDA's for my wife and I. I can honestly say that I'm considering the iPhone BECAUSE of price, and I'll tell you why. While all carriers sell a nice PDA for less money then the iPhone (by a long shot), their more expensive data plans make them less attractive over the long run.
Verizon offers the best coverage in my area, so i considered them first. Their Palm Treo 700wx seems nice. However, they charge $300 each after mail in rebates. I'm interested in two, so that's $600 total. Currently Verizon only offers their PDA's with a bundled voice and data plan that comes out to $80 a month per phone. That potentially makes it $160 per month for my wife and I. The iPhone's family plan comes out to $110 per month for two phones. With the extra $50 a month I'd be spending with Verizon, it would only take me 12 months to recover the extra $600 I spent on the iPhones ($1200 iPhones - $600 Treo's = $600).
Choosing Cingular/AT&T, with it's smaller network coverage still costs more over the two year contract cost, something that is required with all carriers available. For either the Palm Treo 750 or Blackberry Pearl, Cingular charges $150 per month for two devices. That includes $70 for a family voice plan and $40*2 ($80) for the PDA/Blackberry Max for each device. On a side note, I chose the PDA/Blackberry Max options because they were the cheapest data plans I could find that offered features I'm interested in like internet access, corporate email integration. All together, $70 voice + $40 data + $40 data = $150 per month. With the costs of two Treo 750's being $400 and two Blackberry Pearls being $300, It takes 20 months to pay back the $800 extra dollars spent on the iPhones over the Treo 750's, and 22.5 months to pay back the $900 dollars spent on the iPhones over the BB Pearls. All of which occur before the end of the required two year agreement. I didn't consider t-Mobile because of their non-existant network coverage in my area.
2 iPhones (8GB, is there really another option?)
$1200 + ($110*24) = $3,840
2 Verizon Treo 700wx's
$600 + ($160*24) = $4,440
2 Cingular Treo 750's
$400 + ($150*24) = $4,000
2 Cingular BB Pearl's
$300 + ($150*24) = $3,900
Neeko @ Jul 18th 2007 2:51PM
what about sprint? there data plans are the cheapest and soon to be equal if not faster then verizon with Rev A coming very soon.