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What Are Phone Subsidies?
Wireless phone subsidies
remain a mystery for most, so lets get to the
bottom of it here! Ever wonder how wireless providers can
sell a
phone that is normally hundreds of dollars for $50, or even give it
away for free? Well, the actual cost of phones can very from
fairly inexpensive (ex. $50) to very expensive (ex. $500).
When
I'm referring to the actual cost, that's actually the cost that the
wireless company pays to the phone manufacturer (ex. Motorola, Samsung,
LG, etc.).
There's actually quite a bit of technology in wireless phones.
Consider, color screens, microprocessors, memory, metal,
plastics, battery, GPS chip, the operating system, etc.
There's
actually a lot of costs for research and development, as well as
manufacturing. Cell phones really are very high tech devices.
Think of the software to communicate with the cell tower so
that
it knows how to hand off from tower to tower without dropping the call.
Making this work correctly is actually rocket science!
With
such technology comes a cost, and while costs have come down over the
years as we get better and more efficient at building them, there's
still a real cost.
Most people, however, do not want to pay hundreds of dollars for what
they consider to be an average phone. And remember that
that's in
addition to the monthly service bill you get. So, to help
customers, wireless companies will discount their phones when you sign
up for a new plan. This is part of what is known as COA, or
Cost
Of Acquisition. This is the cost to get a new customer, which
includes a number of factors, including the phone cost, or subsidy,
dealer compensation, marketing, etc. What this means for you
is
that the wireless carrier actually may have paid $250 for a phone that
they then sell to you for $100. That difference of $150 is
called
the handset/phone subsidy, and actually represents an initial loss.
Subsidies are one of the major reasons why wireless companies require
that you sign a contract. And often, the longer the contract
you
sign (ex. 1, 2, or 3 years), the greater the discount you can get on
the phone that you want. Often times people complain about
these
contracts, but consider that for each new customer that they get,
wireless providers are losing money; at least initially. That
is,
if you were to pay $100 for a $250 phone, and pay $50 a month for two
months of service and then cancel your plan, they would have not only
lost on the cost of the phone, but also the other costs that go into
acquiring you as a new customer (dealer compensation, marketing, etc.).
That's why they have you sign a contract. That
guarantees
that they won't lose money on you. And as much as we like
getting
things for free or cheap, if wireless companies don't make money, they
can't survive to offer exciting services, good, reliable networks, etc.
So, if you terminate your contract, there's an early termination fee
that you'll pay. This is used to help recoup their costs.
You'd be surprised how long it takes for wireless companies
to
break even on you as a new customer. Depending on the type of
phone you buy, and the type of plan you have, it could take upwards of
6-8 months!
With all of this background you might be asking yourself: "What does
all this have to do with prepaid wireless where there are no
contracts?" You might notice at stores that the same phone
will
cost more if you're a prepaid customer than if you choose postpaid.
This is due to the subsidy. Without a contract,
wireless
companies have a higher risk that you can leave anytime. So
if
they subsidize the phone too much, there's a greater chance that
they'll lose money on you.
As technology and economies of scale (i.e. volume) increase, prepaid
wireless providers are able to sell phones with zero subsidy.
However, for the higher end, nicer phones, there's almost
always
some kind of subsidy. So yes, as a prepaid customer you'll
usually pay more for your phone, however, you also have the luxury of
changing wireless providers at anytime, and without any penalties.
There's definitely a lot of value in having that freedom!
One last note. You may often see really good prices on
prepaid
wireless phones that are almost the same, or even sometimes lower than
phones sold with postpaid plans. This is typically due to the
fact that those phones are not new, they are refurbished. I
happen to be a big fan of refurbished phones. If a phone has
been
used, companies can't legally sell them as new. But the
reality
is that refurbished phones undergo careful scrutiny that they function
correctly, and typically you can't even find a scratch on them.
So as long as the phones comes with some kind of warranty
(ex. 90
days), I wouldn't be turned off by refurbished phones. In
fact,
you can often get a much nicer phone at a great price! And if
you
buy it with a credit card that offers extended warranties on electronic
products, you may be able to have even greater peace of mind knowing
that you have even longer coverage in case something goes wrong.
But let's be honest...most of the time we have problems with
our
phones because we dropped them one too many times, as opposed to a
refurbished phone having a problem because it was previously enjoyed
;-).
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