ICON Roll Call

[Indistinguishable]

As of tomorrow Verizon will start offering aggressive new pricing on all its devices including the Lumia 929 when it comes out (Upgrade and Retail). Also if you are upgrading with unlimited DATA, Verizon will offer 6GB of data instead of 2GB for $30 bucks (you have to ask for it as it is not advertised).

Intrigued by what classifies "aggressive pricing" on upgrade and retail devices. I'll consider buying from Verizon instead of the MSFT store if the prices are good enough.

Whats with the new changes??? Perhaps to get more customers???


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Seems pretty obvious to me. The first promotion is a step in the direction of removing phone subsidies from the Verizon pricing plan. And the second is simply to give people an incentive to get off of their grandfathered unlimited data plans.

 

[Maanasee Deshmukh]

Seems pretty obvious to me. The first promotion is a step in the direction of removing phone subsidies from the Verizon pricing plan. And the second is simply to give people an incentive to get off of their grandfathered unlimited data plans.

Hmm... smart marketing move by Verizon perhaps??


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[tcman88]

Intrigued by what classifies "aggressive pricing" on upgrade and retail devices. I'll consider buying from Verizon instead of the MSFT store if the prices are good enough.



Seems pretty obvious to me. The first promotion is a step in the direction of removing phone subsidies from the Verizon pricing plan. And the second is simply to give people an incentive to get off of their grandfathered unlimited data plans.

Manufacturers aren't really "updating" their devices so there are less incentives for people to change their phones hence sales are down, you get the picture

 

[mrlugo88]

As of tomorrow Verizon will start offering aggressive new pricing on all its devices including the Lumia 929 when it comes out (Upgrade and Retail). Also if you are upgrading with unlimited DATA, Verizon will offer 6GB of data instead of 2GB for $30 bucks (you have to ask for it as it is not advertised).

Very curious to see what aggressive pricing looks like, specifically when it comes to the Icon. I'll be using a different line's upgrade so that's the price that interests me the most. Could we see $99 on contract price? Whatever it Is, it sounds like this is going to be good.

 

[tcman88]

Very curious to see what aggressive pricing looks like, specifically when it comes to the Icon. I'll be using a different line's upgrade so that's the price that interests me the most. Could we see $99 on contract price? Whatever it Is, it sounds like this is going to be good.

Looks like $100, $450. Sometimes Verizon likes to hike up the price a little in the first few weeks for the obvious reason so well see .

 

[falconrap]

Here's a thought, if VZW wants to get a bump in sales...how about they...ummm...release the Icon already! I just dropped my 822 yesterday (more like it took flight and hit some pavement just right) and shattered the top left corner of the screen. I contemplated just going ahead and getting the 928, but the additional cost of the new plan, which gives me only 1GB of data ($10 more/mo vs $20 for 2GB) instead of unlimited, and the camera really is only an upgrade in the night shot and flash departments. So I bought a new digitizer and will replace it on mine and hold off until the 929 decides it's safe to come out of it's hole, probably on groundhog day at this rate.

 

[falconrap]

Looks like $100, $450. Sometimes Verizon likes to hike up the price a little in the first few weeks for the obvious reason so well see .

If it hits for $100 it will be a very good seller, probably better than the 822. The phone hits the right specs and size right now to be a hot seller at that price. Now if only the carriers would get rid of the stupid $30 upgrade fee...It's pretty sad when I can change carriers where most resellers will be able to waive the new customer activation fee, but getting VZW to waive $30 to keep a customer for 2 years...can't have that.

 

[Indistinguishable]

If it hits for $100 it will be a very good seller, probably better than the 822. The phone hits the right specs and size right now to be a hot seller at that price. Now if only the carriers would get rid of the stupid $30 upgrade fee...It's pretty sad when I can change carriers where most resellers will be able to waive the new customer activation fee, but getting VZW to waive $30 to keep a customer for 2 years...can't have that.

It won't change how much the Icon sells vs other phones if Verizon's whole line up is going to be having similar price change.

 

[falconrap]

It won't change how much the Icon sells vs other phones if Verizon's whole line up is going to be having similar price change.

I disagree. Except the iPhone, everything else VZW is carrying right now is old or not all that popular right now. A new flagship level phone coming out at that price will sell quite well.

 

[Indistinguishable]

I disagree. Except the iPhone, everything else VZW is carrying right now is old or not all that popular right now. A new flagship level phone coming out at that price will sell quite well.

I don't really have time to explain the logistics behind this at work. But here's quick and short of it: Verizon devices are licensed by one major entity: Verizon. Thus, within the marketplace for Verizon licensed devices, Verizon has a monopoly. Assuming there is a price decrease across the board on Verizon offerings, this will not significantly change how the NL Icon will sell now vs. other Verizon devices.

The main intention here, in my opinion, is to make a move towards non-subsidized devices. Tc mentioned that VZW is looking to make that move in 2014 in earlier comments. If they sell more phones in that transition period, that's a nice bonus for them. But that's not going to be the major impact.

 

[berty6294]

^ yes and no. While all phones will be cheaper, most people are familiar with Android and iOS. They are not as familiar with WP. People don't want to gamble $199 to try something new, they will however be more willing to try something new if it's $49 or even free on contract!

 

[Tjarren]

As of tomorrow Verizon will start offering aggressive new pricing on all its devices including the Lumia 929 when it comes out (Upgrade and Retail). Also if you are upgrading with unlimited DATA, Verizon will offer 6GB of data instead of 2GB for $30 bucks (you have to ask for it as it is not advertised).

I would actually consider giving up my unlimited data for 6gb of data for $30. I've NEVER used anywhere near that much and that price is the same as what I pay now. Plus that would allow me to tether (right?) which would be useful on occasion. If there is anything that would get me off of unlimited data it would be something like that. A $99 contract price would be even more tempting.

OR I could use the device payment plan for a $449 Icon (hopefully), pay a higher monthly amount for a year (+$40/m), keep unlimited data but lose tethering.

Oh decisions ...

 

[Sean Stanley]

My understanding was that the monthly fees we pay are inflated to help cover the cost of selling subsidized phones. That's one of the reasons why monthly plans like Edge are a doubly bad deal - you pay more overall for the phone, and you continue to pay the monthly fees that assume you've bought a subsidized phone.

If Verizon gets rid of subsidized phones, does that mean the cost of monthly plans will go down? Or, more likely, they stay the same and now they are making more because of they keep the subsidized mark-up in place?

 

[DustinRyan]

My understanding was that the monthly fees we pay are inflated to help cover the cost of selling subsidized phones. That's one of the reasons why monthly plans like Edge are a doubly bad deal - you pay more overall for the phone, and you continue to pay the monthly fees that assume you've bought a subsidized phone.

If Verizon gets rid of subsidized phones, does that mean the cost of monthly plans will go down? Or, more likely, they stay the same and now they are making more because of they keep the subsidized mark-up in place?

Even worse, currently, after your contract is up (on any plan) and your phone is obviously paid up, your monthly fees never go down if you don't get a new phone, even though your phone is paid off. That's my biggest gripe. My contract ended in October, but I'm still paying inflated bills monthly at $85 per month. I'm basically giving Verizon extra money because they said so. Hooray American cell network industry!

My guess, if Verizon stops subsidizing phones, they won't lower the monthly cost much, if at all, because we're already desensitized to outrageous monthly bills and knows they can get away with charging more for the sake of making higher profits. They already do it, minus the full price on phones, of course.

 

[Maanasee Deshmukh]

Even worse, currently, after your contract is up (on any plan) and your phone is obviously paid up, your monthly fees never go down if you don't get a new phone, even though your phone is paid off. That's my biggest gripe. My contract ended in October, but I'm still paying inflated bills monthly at $85 per month. I'm basically giving Verizon extra money because they said so. Hooray American cell network industry!

My guess, if Verizon stops subsidizing phones, they won't lower the monthly cost much, if at all, because we're already desensitized to outrageous monthly bills and knows they can get away with charging more for the sake of making higher profits. They already do it, minus the full price on phones, of course.

so once again its a marketing strategy???


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[DustinRyan]

so once again its a marketing strategy???


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Well, their goal is always to make more money this year than they did the year before. I understand that as a business owner. So marketing will heavily influence everything they do. But I also think there's an ethical boundary. And I think T-Mobile is making the consumer more aware of that by blatantly pointing out what the strategy of Verizon, AT&T, and everyone else has been for a very long time.

But I'm not here to predict the future. A lot could happen this year. But if history is any indicator, Verizon won't be so quick to lower monthly bill costs. They will most likely find a way to spin a rip-off into sounding like it's a steal. Like Verizon Edge, AT&T Next, etc. currently do. You think you're getting a deal, but you aren't.

I think once the consumers become more aware of this, and they begin to choose their carrier with their wallets (assuming other smaller networks gain some ground, and a voice), only then will Verizon backtrack on their evil ways to create insane margins.

But don't quote me on that.

 

[Indistinguishable]

Well, their goal is always to make more money this year than they did the year before. I understand that as a business owner. So marketing will heavily influence everything they do. But I also think there's an ethical boundary. And I think T-Mobile is making the consumer more aware of that by blatantly pointing out what the strategy of Verizon, AT&T, and everyone else has been for a very long time.

But I'm not here to predict the future. A lot could happen this year. But if history is any indicator, Verizon won't be so quick to lower monthly bill costs. They will most likely find a way to spin a rip-off into sounding like it's a steal. Like Verizon Edge, AT&T Next, etc. currently do. You think you're getting a deal, but you aren't.

I think once the consumers become more aware of this, and they begin to choose their carrier with their wallets (assuming other smaller networks gain some ground, and a voice), only then will Verizon backtrack on their evil ways to create insane margins.

But don't quote me on that.

What you gonna do about it?

 

[DustinRyan]

What you gonna do about it?

Haha, I meant don't go around telling people that something I posted on an Internet forum should be regarded as useful information. I'm just throwing out my opinions to see if anything sticks. I didn't mean directly quote me on the forum. Although after I posted that, I realized someone probably would. Haha.

 

[Indistinguishable]

Well, their goal is always to make more money this year than they did the year before. I understand that as a business owner. So marketing will heavily influence everything they do. But I also think there's an ethical boundary. And I think T-Mobile is making the consumer more aware of that by blatantly pointing out what the strategy of Verizon, AT&T, and everyone else has been for a very long time.

But I'm not here to predict the future. A lot could happen this year. But if history is any indicator, Verizon won't be so quick to lower monthly bill costs. They will most likely find a way to spin a rip-off into sounding like it's a steal. Like Verizon Edge, AT&T Next, etc. currently do. You think you're getting a deal, but you aren't.

I think once the consumers become more aware of this, and they begin to choose their carrier with their wallets (assuming other smaller networks gain some ground, and a voice), only then will Verizon backtrack on their evil ways to create insane margins.

But don't quote me on that.

Boom. Did it again.

Haha, I meant don't go around telling people that something I posted on an Internet forum should be regarded as useful information. I'm just throwing out my opinions to see if anything sticks. I didn't mean directly quote me on the forum. Although after I posted that, I realized someone probably would. Haha.

What now?!

 

[berty6294]

while Verizon is definitely trying to make more money than the year before, I think this whole stunt is Verizon doing everything they can to get everybody to renew their contract and hop off their unlimited plan!