Comments on: Handset Market Decline May Soon Affect Carriers

By: Always On Real-Time Access » Chetan Sharma Consulting in the news in 2008

Always On Real-Time Access » Chetan Sharma Consulting in the news in 2008 — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:21:18 +0000

[...] GigaOM – Handset Market Decline May Soon Affect Carriers [...]

By: Allen

Allen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:45:49 +0000

Unless you’re trying to say they sold no handsets (and could not possibly sell less), that negative growth statement required more research.

By: spg

spg — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:36:33 +0000

in many european countries it has become common for carriers to offer heavily discounted plans for customers that 'bring there own phone' instead of getting a subsidized one. this certainly would lead to both lower handset sales eventually lower revenues for the operators.

i would agree that 'tethering'(or a bundle that includes a laptop data device) is the killer app that could bring major revenue growth to the carriers; but it has to be priced right.

By: Is Mobile VoIP a Key to Cellular Carrier Survival in an Economic Slowdown? | Mobile VoIP Service Reviews

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:21:54 +0000

[...] marketing with the commercial featuring their CEO and their new one price unlimited plan, and as Stacy Higgenbotham notes, cellular handset forecasts are also down for next, a further sign of waining consumer [...]

By: m goode

m goode — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:22:43 +0000

Good thing this doesn’t affect Motorola Krave owners! I am a huge fan of the Krave’s 2 megapixel camera and touch screen display. (motorola.com/krave) Has anyone else seen it or own one? I’ve been a fan of this thing ever since I started working with Motorola. It’s awesome!

By: Curtis

Curtis — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:46:34 +0000

@Stacey,

I agree with you and SFMitch's comments. In fact, I believe a significant growth opportunity for the carriers are bundled plans where customers can get cellular service AND service for laptops with broadband access. If priced right, I think the carriers would see substantial growth.

For the record, I won't be reducing my cell phone data usage at all.

Best,

Curtis

By: Stacey Higginbotham

Stacey Higginbotham — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:41:24 +0000

I have data on my phone and a USB modem. I will admit that i would kill the modem plan if GigaOM didn’t fund it. maybe I would then consolidate though with a more web savvy handset instead of my Pearl. Pay for data on my phone, but not for my laptop.

By: sfmitch

sfmitch — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:47:43 +0000

The economic slowdown will have no affect on my data subscriptions (1st gen iPhone w/ AT&T). Cell phone with data is right near the top of my 'I'm not giving this up' list.

Having slow growth, or even no growth, will hurt the weakest players the hardest. As the quality of new phones continues to improve, those who can't compete (Motorola, Palm, etc.) will feel the most pain.

I expect Apple, RIM & Google/HTC to continue to do well, regardless of economic outlook. Seriously, people aren't going to stop buying cell phones.

By: ScottK

ScottK — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:19:00 +0000

I will not cut back (OK, I have free data since I have been a Sprint customer for 8 years) but I would pay for it if I had to – gotta have email (and ESPN)! I am sure there is a % out there that have data as a “nice to have” that may go away and thus not be replaced with new customers who do not see data as a necessity. So, neutral to negative growth for data in ‘09 is a possibility.