Buying A New Smartphone At Launch Costs More: The Graph

12 responses to “Buying A New Smartphone At Launch Costs More: The Graph”

1. 

   Godfrey

   September 25, 2012

   Is this a version of Moore’s Law? If something is relatively half as powerful in 18 months does that mean it’s half as valuable in that time too? The s3 looks like it’s dropping a lot steeper than that though. There’s a lot more at play I suppose than just processing grunt.

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   1. 

      Ozoneocean

      September 25, 2012

      The article explains the S3 price:
      “competition in Android is tougher and there are more retail outlets”
      I don’t think “Moore’s Law” has much direct application. Processor speed is just a small part of the total package in terms of smartphones. People buy mainly on perception, brand image and marketing.

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      1. 

         Blake

         September 25, 2012

         That and their resale value is less, as such to make people buy new, as opposed to second hand, they lower the price to keep it more competitive.

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2. 

   Rick

   September 25, 2012

   From what I remember though, iPhone prices often rise a few weeks after launch (especially on plans). The price of buying one outright probably goes down though

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3. 

   Dee

   September 25, 2012

   Hmmm… I can’t speak for the other devices, but the iPhone 4S came out in October 2011, yet it doesn’t start on the graph till around Xmas… And it would be nice to see it plotted up until the point the iPhone 5 was released, rather than just stopping around May…

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   1. 

      Grim

      September 25, 2012

      Remember this is data from OzBargains. There probably were no bargains to be had, only RRP, outside of the times shown. Discounts on Apple gear, especially the iPhone cashcow, are rare.

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      1. 

         Dee

         September 25, 2012

         But the headline is “Buying a new smartphone at launch…” — how can you not include launch data?

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4. 

   Simon

   September 25, 2012

   “This should not be news.”

   How many editors read an article that starts with the words, ‘this should not be news’, and then publish it. Not knocking it, it just made me laugh.

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5. 

   Bigfoot

   September 25, 2012

   Buying any electronics at launch is more expensive than if you wait 18 months. Applies to videogames, computers, TVs, phones, the whole shebang. Why is this news?

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   1. 

      Leigh Kennedy

      September 25, 2012

      Why is this news?

      Sure, it’s general knowledge that prices drop way after launch (~18 months), however; not everyone knows that “the mighty iPhone” drops in price too.

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      1. 

         muddy

         September 26, 2012

         its also nice to see it plainly on a graph like this

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6. 

   Jack

   September 26, 2012

   Samsung does this every 3 months. It happened with Omnia1 back in 2008, with Omnia 2 (known as T*Omnia 2 in Korea) in 2009, Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy S2, Galaxy Note and with Galaxy S3. Soon they will announce Galaxy Note 2(which they already unveiled as of now in Korea) and Q1 next year will be Galaxy S4.

   There was a price-subsidy scandal which now is known as ‘Galaxy S3 Incident’, happened a week or two ago i believe, where prices of Galaxy S3 (which was $990 with 2yr contract only two months ago) have dropped to $150 w/2yr contract. Carriers KT and U+ started to give higher subsidy thus plumetting the prices of SGS3 to steal more customers from their competitor, SKTelecom. This happens every day, every cycle in Korea. The earlier you buy, the more stupid and retarded you are. Especially when a company like Samsung wants to get rid of old stock and release a new phone to rake more cash.

   Translated: http://arcsirius.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/petition-do-you-think-we-consumers-are-fools/
   Original Petition: http://bbs3.agora.media.daum.net/gaia/do/petition/read?bbsId=P001&articleId=126921&objCate1=1&pageIndex=1

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