Black Saturday

[Major]

Apparently all WP7 devices will be a $0.01 on 11/26, presumeably including the Titan. Might be worth the wait.

http://www.windowscentral.com/atts-holiday-deals-wp7-phones-penny

 

[1jaxstate1]

It doesn't show the Titan as being one of the choices.

 

[Blacklac]

My god... I've been counting down the seconds until this Sunday for a week. Now this?! Ill be very curious to hear if the Titan is included or not. While it may not be for sale now, it was announced. Weird they'd exclude from mentioning it.

 

[power5]

Grrrrrrr. I want my titan damnit. But if I have to wait for a $199 discount I think I can. Last time though if it is indeed applicable to the titan. Wonder if it will be in limited quantities or something. Just dont see how ATT can afford to do this.

If the Titan is not covered in this deal I will be pissed. I may just have to get a Focus S and I really dont want to. But I dont think the Titan is built $200 better than the Focus S.

 

[kevm14]

I know, first I waited for the Focus S to be announced. Then I waited for it to be available. Then I had to drive around to find a store with one. Then the Titan was announced. So I was going to wait for this Sunday. Now this. I was going to use the 50% off coupon on my order so it would basically cost me $100 to be impatient, though I could probably have the phone for the holiday...

Also, how can they afford it? Well, a 2-year contract grosses them, say, 2 grand on a single line over the contract period. A $200 phone going to $0.01 is not really a huge difference (10%).

I wish they gave discounts to people who buy unlocked phones because it should theoretically be a better deal for those of us who can afford the upfront cost.

 

[power5]

Yeah, they lose the whole cost of the phone this way though. They get $200 with their normal deal. The unlocked phones can be bought anywhere so it does not guarantee them any money. The $200 deal is their best guarantee for money. I dont really care how they make money. I will be with them for at least the next 2 years so I could really care less. They are not making any more money off me by giving me a discount for a locked in contract. Only the people who claim to bounce around the different carriers benefit from not being locked into a contract for 18 months.

 

[Major]

If AT&T sells the phone for $0.01, we know that at least they're making money on the contract. What I wonder is how much Amazon makes when they sell the phone for $0.01. I'm thinking AT&T pays a flat fee to whoever signs up a contract for them (AT&T store, Amazon, Best Buy, etc) that has to exceed the wholesale price of the phone. In a sense, the vendor sets the price, not AT&T. Thus, one should be able to negotiate the price with the vendor.

 

[Major]

I called AT&T and they said this offer is for online orders only, and yes, the Titan should be a part of the special once it's released.

 

[Blacklac]

So since this is an HSPA+ phone, you cant complete an upgrade without selecting a 4G plan, for us grandfathered unlimited users. How do we bypass this? I tried an online upgrade 2 weeks ago and you cannot keep your unlimited plans if you do it online.

Too bad they arent still offering free overnight shipping. Edit: Just noticed it does say free shipping. Nothing about what method though.

 

[jeremyshaw]

So since this is an HSPA+ phone, you cant complete an upgrade without selecting a 4G plan, for us grandfathered unlimited users. How do we bypass this? I tried an online upgrade 2 weeks ago and you cannot keep your unlimited plans if you do it online.

Go in store and do it. Try to get the discount there. Failing that, call in and order it.

My father kept his unlimited plan from his iPhone, to a new LTE device (Vivid? I think it's called that).

 

[power5]

MS charges HTC for WP7. Why would they then turn around and give the carrier money? The phones come from HTC and that is who would give discounts to the carrier. ATT loses money on this deal. My dad upgraded to a 4S and kept his unlimited so I better be able to also.

 

[Blacklac]

well, i just did an online chat and they saidthey do not have the option to re-add the unlimited plan once its been removed. She said best they could do was call and hope they can match the sale price over the phone. However, they cannot take calls until 9am on Saturdays, and its a "while supplies last" deal.

 

[Blacklac]

uhh. Ok, nevermind apparently. Because I have a Blackberry plan currently, basically I need another Blackberry or else I need a new tiered data plan. I did not think that was the case, but the CS Rep on the phone says so.

 

[jeremyshaw]

uhh. Ok, nevermind apparently. Because I have a Blackberry plan currently, basically I need another Blackberry or else I need a new tiered data plan. I did not think that was the case, but the CS Rep on the phone says so.

Push for it in store.

 

[kevm14]

Has anyone ever gotten the store to waive activation? Seems like it is probably about impossible.

 

[palandri]

uhh. Ok, nevermind apparently. Because I have a Blackberry plan currently, basically I need another Blackberry or else I need a new tiered data plan. I did not think that was the case, but the CS Rep on the phone says so.

They're are sure finding every excuse in the book to get people off the old unlimited data plan.

 

[Blacklac]

yes they are.

I was at some point by summer, going to switch anyways, cause I wanted Hotspot for my Tablet. Its not a huge deal. And I thought not being able to add hotspot to an unlimited plan was bad, even if you wanted to pay extra for it.

 

[Dr.Phil]

Just thought I would throw my hat into the ring here and add a comment. First of all, if this deal does include all WP7 devices including the Titan it wouldn't be a hit to AT&T. I mean have you looked at your bill lately? Even if you are a single person you are most likely paying northwards of $70 a month with a smartphone plan. That means they are making AT LEAST $840 a year off of you using their services. Another thing to note this is just a one day deal and its while supplies last. This means that they would still make money the day after and every single day after that. Also, the cost to build a WP7 is not that much. In fact, that's what they were touting in their presentation this year was how significantly lower their cost to manufacture was over the competition.

@Blacklac

I would be surprised if you keep your unlimited plan for this upgrade. The problem is that most of the people that have unlimited data were on the 3G plan. When you upgrade to a 4G device, for some reason in their computers it's listed as a 4G plan so they automatically enable the 2GB or 200 MB plan. If you know someone at AT&T that is smart enough to know how to get around it, great. But, at least where I am at, they get new employees every month and they don't know what the **** they are doing.

On a side note, have you looked at your monthly bill? Are you really using more than 2GB? I thought when I had my unlimited taken away that I would go over it every month but I haven't yet. I mean they dramatically cut your speeds after 2GB anyways that the internet is pretty much unusable.

 

[power5]

Don't be naive. Do you actually think AT&T is driving a money losing promotion for a phone system that has just 1.5% of the smartphone market share? Yes it's the hardware mfgs that are selling the handsets to the carriers but they're not driving this promo. The 800lb gorilla in the room is Microsoft and they're putting heavy money into increasing their market share. Whether it's subsidizing it through the carriers or the hardware mfgs, there's no doubt MS is the driving force here.

MS has big plans for their ecosystem; look at Windows 8, Windows Phone, Microsoft Stores. Everything points to them building the ecosystem for the long term. To do that you sometimes have to lose some upfront money to win long term. They want to increase their market share!

Check the deal again. Saturday is for WP7 and Droid. Droid will bring in way way way way more people for ATT than WP7. ATT needs no subsidies for WP7 devices as there will probably not be enough sold to actually hurt them. Droid on the other hand will probably sell a ton.


As for data. Sucks that ATT is being conniving about switching people off their unlimited plans. I checked my iphone. I have only 350mb of data over the last month. So, I am not abusing my data because I have unlimited. Of course my 3g is crap with the internet anymore. I loath trying to go anywhere on the net with it anymore.

 

[power5]

Guys,

* More specific details available on AT&T Special Offers & Deals on TV, Internet, Home Phone and Wireless TOMORROW FRIDAY Nov 18 (you're not going see anything today if you click on it)

Am I missing something? I dont really see any more specific details today. Not such a big fan of ATT site. Can anyone find more info on this deal for saturday? I will be out of town next weekend so I need everything to be perfect and ready before I leave. I was pretty sure I would already have my Titan and I have only gotten anything on black weekend once. Usually its not worth the hassle. This works out perfect for timing so I am not missing it.