AT&T wants to move beyond subsidizing mobile phones with that strategy to other hardware, led by netbooks, that use the AT&T wireless broadband network. After rebates, consumers can buy netbooks from Acer and Dell for $99 and AT&T says it is in talks with other computer makers as well.
The payback is substantial, as AT&T gains customers paying $60 a month under contract and spends a couple hundred dollars upfront on the subsidies. The move also should help offset weakening sales from enterprise customers.
AT&T says it will expand its subsidy program to cameras, portable video game machines, GPS devices.
Depending on how AT&T decides to price those connections, the firm could undercut some of the demand Clearwire has been talking about stimulating. "Casual use" plans are a prime example.
Where this all culminates, of course, is an omnibus plan that allows users access for a number of devices as part of a single account, much as users now buy "family plans" for multiple mobiles.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
PC Subsidies Now Joining Phone Subsidies at AT&T
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
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1 comment:
Thanks for the useful information!! I prefer to use ATT services... It's new plans are really nice!!
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