What Would Happen if MS cut the Middle Man -Carriers-?

[Jorge Holguin]

I just got my wife the BLU Win HD after she broke her 635 and let me tell you taking advantage of the 12 Days Deal of MS I saved $50; headphones, screen protector, charger, really no bad deal. I find the phone slick, beautiful, light and it takes good pictures plus what called my attention in the first place and the motive for me to write the post unlocked and double SIM.

We all know that US carriers are not playing ball with WP and in the worse case retiring them even before updating them [Verizon]. So my questions are:
1- What would happen if MS decided to cut the middle man?
2- Would WP suffer more of what is doing right now?
3- Would carrier retaliate against MS?
4- What would be the worse case scenario?

What if MS decided you know what let me give the power to the user in the low, mid and high end to use their phone with any carrier they want. So they can have the latest updates and frameworks right away without have to wait months. I know that not everybody can afford to pay their phones out of package but could MS make so kind of payment plan for those people?

I just wonder can this be possible?

 

[Guytronic]

AT&T would probably get very angry with Microsoft if carriers were dumped as whole.

Something I wish for would be Xfinity\Comcast absorbing Verizon then cutting me a great deal as a Comcast prisoner.

 

[RumoredNow]

I would like to see a North American capable, Factory Unlocked variant of every phone in the Lumia stable for sale at the Microsoft Store. Every Lumia... And all the 3rd party offerings like Blu, Yezz, etc. If HTC, Samsung, etc want to sell their phones Factory Unlocked, the more the merrier.

Continue on with the Carrier branded as well, some like that too or only shop phones at the carrier stores. Carrier Firmware has it's place. I'm thinking T-Mo WiFi Calling for instance, My Account apps, carrier billing in App stores, the new SoftCard Apps. Both branded and Unlocked have their place.

Factory Unlocked is a draw for certain phone geek types. It could end up being some serious bait to attract high end users, collectors and the OS curious. I love Factory Unlocked and have purchased several phones in that class from different OEMs and OS choices.

 

[Jorge Holguin]

I would like to see a North American capable, Factory Unlocked variant of every phone in the Lumia stable for sale at the Microsoft Store. Every Lumia... And all the 3rd party offerings like Blu, Yezz, etc. If HTC, Samsung, etc want to sell their phones Factory Unlocked, the more the merrier.

Continue on with the Carrier branded as well, some like that too or only shop phones at the carrier stores. Carrier Firmware has it's place. I'm thinking T-Mo WiFi Calling for instance, My Account apps, carrier billing in App stores, the new SoftCard Apps. Both branded and Unlocked have their place.

Factory Unlocked is a draw for certain phone geek types. It could end up being some serious bait to attract high end users, collectors and the OS curious. I love Factory Unlocked and have purchased several phones in that class from different OEMs and OS choices.

Good points, but here is the thing my wife phone and my 1520 are both unlocked and I got mine through eBay and we still have T-Mobile WiFi calling. I believe carriers can offer their services as long as the user/s pay for the best offering. And once consumers are educated little bit more I believe that can takes off.

 

[Jorge Holguin]

AT&T would probably get very angry with Microsoft if carriers were dumped as whole.

Something I wish for would be Xfinity\Comcast absorbing Verizon then cutting me a great deal as a Comcast prisoner.

They're already trashing WP so I really wouldn't care about ATT

 

[RumoredNow]

...here is the thing my wife phone and my 1520 are both unlocked... ...we still have T-Mobile WiFi calling....

Really?

Do you have a tutorial on how to get T-Mo WiFi calling on a phone not branded to T-Mo?

I've never managed under any operating system, I've never heard anyone say they have until your post and I've seen uncollected bounties at Dev forums from T-Mo users asking anyone to get this done...

Can you post a screen shot of your extras + info showing Manufacturer Name and Mobile Operator (don't show IMEI please) and another showing the Phone App on Start clearly showing WiFi Calling as the status?

There are many people who want to know how to do this.


Carrier Apps are one way that carriers attempt to build value and brand loyalty. That's not going away from the carrier perspective nor is their tendency to make their Apps only available on branded phones running their service. The only exception I can think of is the NFL App on Windows Phone which is published by NFL, but has Verizon written all over it on the inside.

Most consumers don't know HOW to select the proper unlocked model.

 

[Jorge Holguin]

Really?

Do you have a tutorial on how to get T-Mo WiFi calling on a phone not branded to T-Mo?

I've never managed under any operating system, I've never heard anyone say they have until your post and I've seen uncollected bounties at Dev forums from T-Mo users asking anyone to get this done...

Can you post a screen shot of your extras + info showing Manufacturer Name and Mobile Operator (don't show IMEI please) and another showing the Phone App on Start clearly showing WiFi Calling as the status?

There are many people who want to know how to do this.


Carrier Apps are one way that carriers attempt to build value and brand loyalty. That's not going away from the carrier perspective nor is their tendency to make their Apps only available on branded phones running their service. The only exception I can think of is the NFL App on Windows Phone which is published by NFL, but has Verizon written all over it on the inside.

Most consumers don't know HOW to select the proper unlocked model.

I was wrong and you are right. I got confused I thought we have it.

 

[EspHack]

Good points, but here is the thing my wife phone and my 1520 are both unlocked and I got mine through eBay and we still have T-Mobile WiFi calling. I believe carriers can offer their services as long as the user/s pay for the best offering. And once consumers are educated little bit more I believe that can takes off.

that's exactly why it will never happen, ~200$ vs +600$ unlocked, the average joe doesn't know what that "unlocked" means, and just looks straight at the price difference, without measuring how much it will cost at the end of the 2-3 years contract

I honestly don't know why they don't do that, considering major oems like apple and Samsung have control over the phone business, their phones don't have stupid carrier logos or anything like that, so I think they could join forces, and start selling their phones exclusively at their own stores like it should've been from the beginning, others like htc sony etc will follow, that's the only way to fix this, but again, highly unlikely, oems get paid for their phones full price at once, which is a lot easier than trying to sell it by themselves, if they decided to do that, it will take them 2 years(average contract) to get the money back, and that sounds like a restructuring nightmare for these companies which like to release new phones every 6-12 months

im sure they can sort it out, but it most likely doesn't make business sense at all, the ones struggling would love to do that(sony Microsoft htc) but the ones that can actually pull it off(Samsung/apple) are in their comfort zone with carriers keeping their wallets full without the hassle of selling directly

 

[RumoredNow]

I still say there is room for and a market for each model.

I've used Carrier branded phones with contract obligation, branded phones that were unlocked, branded phones that were locked which I purchased outright and factory unlocked phones I purchased outright...

Of all those options, it has been a long time since I got a phone on contract. I know a lot of people are buying used phones. Look at eBay, Craig's List, Swappa, the Mobile Nations forums Marketplace areas, local phone resale shops and chains... People are buying so many used phones in order to avoid phones on contract. They possibly are cash strapped, but some may just not know any better.

Only in the US is the contract for phone model so prevalent. Jorge is right. There does need to be some consumer education and training in this area. But without Factory Unlocked models getting offered in more venues, it becomes difficult for consumers to take advantage of that freedom. Certainly the dominance of Verizon and their CDMA coverage in the US is another hindrance.

 

[Jorge Holguin]

The education part of this would take a big campaign by a big corporation like MS but looking at the environment I don't see that happening right now. I believe this would start happening when more people begin buying more used phones, OEMs loose in every transition made buy a consumer that buys on eBay, Amazon, etc. Hard but it could happen. There are people that will never buy used phones or whatever and I am fine with that their proud won't let them but the other portion wouldn't mind at all.

 

[Reflexx]

There was once a company that was HUGE in the US when it came to mobile phones. They were truly dominant.

They tried to go the route of offering devices directly to consumers.

The carriers threw a fit and stopped carrying most of their devices.

They fell dramatically. They seemed to just disappear in the eyes of most Americans.

When Nokia came back many years later a lot of people in the US were surprised that they were still in business.

 

[Jorge Holguin]

There was once a company that was HUGE in the US when it came to mobile phones. They were truly dominant.

They tried to go the route of offering devices directly to consumers.

The carriers threw a fit and stopped carrying most of their devices.

They fell dramatically. They seemed to just disappear in the eyes of most Americans.

When Nokia came back many years later a lot of people in the US were surprised that they were still in business.

Although your point has some truth What killed Nokia was the same thing that killed Motorola, Sony Ericsson, lack of new technology and the iPhone

 

[Guytronic]

They're already trashing WP so I really wouldn't care about ATT

How is AT&T trashing WP?

 

[Jorge Holguin]

How is AT&T trashing WP?

It is not by ads that they are doing it but where matters the most, their sale people. Have you every asked for a WP on ATT? Try and you will see the bashing I've done it just to see and it is awful what they say about it.

 

[maclancer]

It is not by ads that they are doing it but where matters the most, their sale people. Have you every asked for a WP on ATT? Try and you will see the bashing I've done it just to see and it is awful what they say about it.

So true, many times what they will suggest to the people is an Android or iPhone... WP devices is not even in their head.... Is a forbidden device.

 

[EspHack]

There was once a company that was HUGE in the US when it came to mobile phones. They were truly dominant.

They tried to go the route of offering devices directly to consumers.

The carriers threw a fit and stopped carrying most of their devices.

They fell dramatically. They seemed to just disappear in the eyes of most Americans.

When Nokia came back many years later a lot of people in the US were surprised that they were still in business.

this time its different, its not only one super company, and its not a foreign company either, and I bet the word "apple" or "galaxy" has a lot more weight than "Verizon" for the consumer, if all major oems join forces believe me, it has to happen, carriers aren't forever, they cant win the same fight over and over again

if that day comes, that the only way to get the latest iPhone or galaxy or nexus is through a real oem store, and they offer the same 2 year contract, guess what will happen

 

[Reflexx]

this time its different, its not only one super company, and its not a foreign company either, and I bet the word "apple" or "galaxy" has a lot more weight than "Verizon" for the consumer, if all major oems join forces believe me, it has to happen, carriers aren't forever, they cant win the same fight over and over again

if that day comes, that the only way to get the latest iPhone or galaxy or nexus is through a real oem store, and they offer the same 2 year contract, guess what will happen

What gives you the idea that they are all willing to work together to take down carriers right now?

 

[rebornempowered]

Not enough people in the US realize how much a phone really costs. They think an iPhone is really a $200 (or whatever they cost through a carrier) device. If they see a great unlocked phone like the Blu Win HD they would think "What a piece of junk. The iPhone only costs $50 more and the random previous model is free. Why would I buy this?"

 

[tgp]

Not enough people in the US realize how much a phone really costs. They think an iPhone is really a $200 (or whatever they cost through a carrier) device. If they see a great unlocked phone like the Blu Win HD they would think "What a piece of junk. The iPhone only costs $50 more and the random previous model is free. Why would I buy this?"

Yes that does actually happen. I've even seen it on forums like this one; US & Canadian members talk about buying the iPhone for $199, and how everyone else is getting ripped off paying $799. Or posters from outside the US wonder how we can buy a new iPhone for $199.

On the other hand, hiding the true prices like that certainly helps sales of high end phones. That's why the US is such a critical market. The US is relatively wealthy, and a lot of users buy phones on contract. Due to the price being hidden in the contract, contract sales are usually high end phones.

 

[vk1971]

What Would Happen if MS cut the Middle Man -Carriers-?

Market share would drop to subzero