Dave the Mobile Warrior King has informed us that Verizon will begin selling netbooks that will be subsidized with monthly data subscriptions.
Last year, we predicted that 2009 will be inundated with all sort of mobile deals between wireless providers and netbook makers. In fact, Orange is in negotiation with Apple in providing Macbooks with wireless plans. Things are moving along.
So far, no one knows how popular these deals are but I think this will be very popular with folks who are true mobile warriors and need these tools for their livelihood. However, this is not for everyone.
While I applaud these moves, keep in mind I'm on the side of the mobile folks, such as you, myself, and Dave. Let me tell you this right off the top. At rate of $60/month, this is a deal killer. Look, I promote such a combo but I'm not about to recommend it to regular mobile users who don't absolutely need wireless connections.
A two year contact with taxes will take you what I believe to be $1700. In this economy? Kudos to the wireless providers for finally getting into the market but they'll need to do something about the monthly rates before they see armies of mobile users get in on this.
To put this in perspective, ATT and Verizon subsidizes the iPhone and Storm about $400. They charge users a monthly fee of about $80. $35 Of that is the data plan for two years. The wireless netbook deals are almost twice the rate of these mobile plans. Doesn't make sense. (My numbers are very rough estimates.)
And another thing. Here's another estimate. Netbook prices have come down quite a bit. I'm estimating it to be $250-300 each. Not even close to the $600-700 unsubsidized iPhones. The wireless guys can do much better on the plan.
I'm still excited about the move by the market but for now, I'll pass. We'll be keeping an eye on this for ya!
Via Consumer Reports
No comments:
Post a Comment