One of the more convenient ways of acquiring the pricy iPhone 5 was to avail telecom plans or contracts from companies such as Verizon and T-Mobile. However, following what T-Mobile did early this year, Verizon will reportedly stop offering two-year contracts to consumers.
Analysts believe that if the American mobile carrier will trek the path created by T-Mobile, others might follow suit. Sprint and AT&T, also among the country's top mobile phone carriers, were expected to stop offering two-years contracts to their consumers.
These contracts are plans which combine the cost of the smartphone and mobile service plans such as calls, SMS, or internet. These plans kept the smartphones relatively cheap. At only US$100 to US$300, subsidies were included in the pricing of these two-year contracts.
Analysts believe that the nature of this transaction benefits the manufacturers the most, not the carrier nor the consumer. Apple and Samsung, the top two contenders in the smartphone industry, were expected to sell more of their units if carriers begin to scrap the phone plan bundles experts said.
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