The iPhone is primarily hired as a premium network service salesman.

asymco.com

12 pointscoob3 comments

Anybody know if data is available to break down his conclusion by country? I think this would be important in proving his point - in USA, as he says, iPhones are sold by carriers in order to sell their premium plans. However, in Europe and countries such as China, most iPhones are sold unlocked and separate from carrier plans.

If the trends across both types of countries differ, then his conclusion should be correct. If the ASP trends are the same even without carrier participation in the sale, then his conclusion doesn't hold up.

I have an unlimited 4g lte plan for 50/month through metropcs with a boring but functional android phone. The cost for getting an iphone through AT&T seems rather high to me.

After Gruber's post yesterday, I was looking at Verizon plans, and the most basic data plan starts at $90/month, and just gets more expensive from there. I just nearly choked on my teeth. I'm pretty sure that Verizon is selling so many iPhones because they're targeting the "luxury" crowd. With those data prices it's difficult to know what else to make of it.

By comparison, I'm paying $50 via T-Mobile for 1k minutes/text/unlimited data, and it's great.

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