Mostly OT; I hardly see a cellphone handset as a disposable item.
Come to Europe! Handsets for œ50 or less ($75 USD)on prepaid service. Handsets as fashion accessories that teenagers chnage because they want this years model with new games or a different colour. Or that you chnage anyway because its cheaper to buy new service witha new phone than just continue service.
Just over a year ago I bought service here in the UK, one years subscription and œ5 of calls a month for œ120 including phone, & charger. Paid another œ30 for in car charger & handsfree. . After 1 year you revert to a monthly plan of œ15, so I have cancelled and will be buying a prepaid phone. Example, prepaid phone including charger, œ40-60 ($60-90 USD). No monthly outgoings except calls.
Its cheaper to toss the phone and get a new one than continue subscription.
So, what does this have to do with CF you may ask? Well, given this market, the incentive for the vendors is to make phones as cheap as possible and let those who want extras (MP3, different colour facias, leather cases, handsfree, car chargers) pay for them.
The handset vendors also are not interested in modularity, they regularily change interfaces so you cannot use a charger or handsfree from one model on next years. Instead, they sell the phone cheap and you buy the accessories. What they want, when you get a new phone, is that you have to buy all new accessories as well. That way they get some more money you maybe hadnt budgeted for. Keeping the entry price low is the name of the game.
Joe |
