I think they will. The reason is that subsidized phones insulate and hide the true cost of a phone from the consumer.
I think as more and more people move to installment plans like Edge, these people will base their purchasing decisions on the true cost of the phone and this will put downward pricing pressure on the phone manufacturers.
While that may seem like a good thing, it may also result in less incentive to innovate if consumers won't pay a premium price for a high end speced out phone because under installment plans the true cost of these phones is no longer hidden from them with subsidies.
02-16-2014 10:31 AM