Home › News ›

AT&T CEO Believes Phone Subsidies Will Eventually Vanish

Jun 3, 2015, 7:06 AM by Eric M. Zeman

Phone subsidies and two-year contracts are on their way out the door, according to Ralph de la Vega, AT&T's CEO of mobile and business solutions. "I think it is one of those options that is going to go away slowly," said de la Vega to Recode, "not because we insist on it but because customers will choose it less often." AT&T has made changes recently to limit the availability of subsidies and contracts. AT&T partners Best Buy and Apple, for example, no longer offer customers AT&T contracts. Instead, they push AT&T Next plans, which break down the payment for phones over time. AT&T says two-thirds of new smartphone sales during the most recent quarter were via its AT&T Next plans, which clearly indicates consumers' preference when it comes to purchasing new hardware. T-Mobile was the first major carrier to break from the subsidy model with its Simple Choice plans, and now most carriers offer lower-cost service plans that are paired with monthly device payments.

Related

Samsung Refreshes Galaxy S Series with S Pen, New Cameras

Feb 9, 2022
Samsung today announced its lineup of flagship phones for 2022: the Galaxy S22 series. The top-end S22 Ultra sees the biggest changes as it essentially absorbs Samsung's Note series with an integrated S Pen stylus and a more Note-like shape and design, instead of the Contour Cut design of the other models.

Samsung Refines its Foldable Phones

Aug 10, 2022
Samsung has announced its newest generation of foldable phones: the Galaxy Z Fold4 and Galaxy Z Flip4. Both have similar designs and features compared to their predecessors, with a slew of small updates and refinements across the board.

iPhone 14 Plus Offers a Big Screen For Less

Sep 7, 2022
Apple has revealed the iPhone 14 series, with new features, improved specs, and new size options. In place of a Mini option, the iPhone 14 will come in the same 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch screen size options as the Pro models.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Redefines AI in Flagship Phones

Nov 15, 2022
Qualcomm has announced its newest top-end chip, intended to power most flagship-level Android phones in 2023. As expected, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is more powerful and power-efficient across the board (compared to Gen 1), but the most impressive improvements and new features involve AI.

Samsung S24 Series Adds More AI, Updates the Hardware

Jan 17, 2024
Samsung has unveiled its lineup of flagship phones for 2024, the Galaxy S24 series. The phones sport multiple upgrades in both hardware and software compared to last year's models.

more news about:

Comments

This forum is closed.

This forum is closed.

thebriang

Jun 3, 2015, 11:13 AM

Shocking...

We can loan you $200 upfront, or we can charge you more than that over the term... which one is the deathstar going to prefer?
"Our customers prefer" whichever option we put them in, and if they don't like it, they can kick rocks.

aeternavi

Do research before you go dogging it. I am getting rather tired of educating people like you on the difference between the two options. If you did your proper research, you would find that non-contract options benefit the consumer in every way.

...

wc4r

Yes I found the same scenario. It is cheaper for me to buy a phone and be tied up with a 2-year contract than 'finance or lease it'. I certainly don't want to pay $200+ in total monthly payments and not own the device after 2 years.
The carriers will...
(continues)

...

Page 1 of 1