Re:Should Apple buy a phone company?
by neworbit on Sunday May 22, 2011 @11:12AM
(#2573400)
Bizarre thinking to say "Apple would charge $35/month for unlimited usage". When has Apple ever gone the route of price competition? They'd charge $99/month or more and people would gladly pay it.
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Incidentally, did folks know that Virgin Mobile is now offering prepaid unlimited data + text + 300 voice minutes for $25 a month on a prepaid plan? It's an insanely good deal.
Anyway, the days of $99 a month phone plans are presumably coming to an end.
Re:Should Apple buy a phone company?
by stanmancan on Sunday May 22, 2011 @05:35PM
(#2574285)
Not in Canada. I pay about $80/m for 350 minutes, free evenings and weekends, 1GB of data, and "My 5 Nationwide". We need some more competition up here.
When has Apple ever gone the route of price competition?
The ipad.
Not really sure I agree, they're more expensive than more powerful windows laptops in the same size class. And I think I recall hearing that the ipad breakdown per unit is plenty profitable.
But I certainly do have to give you that nobody seems to match them in the same form factor, so that's reasonable enough.
Meh, I would have to say in retrospect that itunes music pricing is (or was) there as well, though not by Apple's decision necessarily.
Ok, I guess I should rephrase. Apple does not cut prices to beat competitors. They may set a price point initially that only works at scale, and rely on competitors not being able to match. But if Dell comes out with same-but-cheaper, Apple doesn't do price wars, and if Apple enters a market it's generally at a premium to existing brands. I still wouldn't expect cheaper wireless from Apple.
Re:Should Apple buy a phone company?
by lotusleaf1987 on Sunday May 22, 2011 @11:20AM
(#2573412)
An iPhone costs $50-$199 on contract, same as Android phones like Nexus S or Galaxy S. iPods don't cost more than Zunes. And iPads are cheaper than their competitors.