Mikey Campbell
AT&T Mobility Chief Executive Officer Ralph de la Vega, in a Q&A session following the company's Q3 2011 earnings call, reported that supply of Apple's legacy model iPhone is running low, noting that it's bringing in more new subscribers on average than any other device. The 3GS, an AT&T-exclusive, is now being offered for free with a 2-year contract, however the carrier's online store is currently "out of stock."
"We've seen a tremendous, tremendous demand for that device even though it's a generation old," de la Vega said.
De la Vega sees his company's lower price devices as a "good entry point" for subscribers who want to add data services to their plans, and notes that the 3GS is an important factor in broadening the growing smartphone market.
"We continue to bring in more subscribers onto our network with pure data plans," de la Vega said. "18 million, or nearly half of our smartphone subscribers, are on tiered plans with most choosing the higher priced data plan."
The news comes after it was announced that AT&T had activated over 1 million iPhone 4S units on the device's launch day last Friday, making it the most successful iPhone debut in the company's history.
Combined, Apple's iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S account for 56 percent of all smartphone activations on AT&T's network, however no specific numbers were given as to how many 3GS units have been activated since it became available as a free-on-contract device.
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51 Comments
The geek in me cringes at the thought of signing a contract for a 2-year-old phone like the 3GS but I totally understand why "free" would be popular.
When the iPhone 4S came out I get an iPhone 3GS added to my account because it was free. I got it for my brother. I plan to upgrade to an iPhone 4S soon. The 3GS is still a nice phone. My brother likes it allot. I can understand why the 3GS would be sold out. Makes sense.
The geek in me cringes at the thought of signing a contract for a 2-year-old phone like the 3GS but I totally understand why "free" would be popular.
I cringe too, for slightly different reasons. The previous cost was $50, which is less than the cost of one month's service. If $50 was a turn-off, then what business do they have subscribing? Subsidies are a fact of life, but it's crazy how much difference it makes between the cost of a month's use and zero.
I cringe too, for slightly different reasons. The previous cost was $50, which is less than the cost of one month's service. If $50 was a turn-off, then what business do they have subscribing? Subsidies are a fact of life, but it's crazy how much difference it makes between the cost of a month's use and zero.
People like a sticker price of free. The real price reduction was $100 as I recall.
Next year Apple will keep the 3GS when the iPhone 5 comes out and drop by another $100.
It would run off the shelfs in poorer countries.
Cook also said in his conference call that they were also seeing increased demand for the iPhone 4 from last Q because of price reductions. Hence the blowout predictions.
I cringe too, for slightly different reasons. The previous cost was $50, which is less than the cost of one month's service. If $50 was a turn-off, then what business do they have subscribing? Subsidies are a fact of life, but it's crazy how much difference it makes between the cost of a month's use and zero.
For some reason many people are more concerned about the upfront cost than the monthly fees.