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Have Google changed mobile phone pricing forever?
Oct 31 2012 02:00 PM |
Zarch1972
in Android
LG and Google's pricing of the Nexus 4 at £239 for 8gb and £279 for 16gb is breathtaking value for consumers and has frankly blown me away, but it begs the question; why can't other manufacturers hit this price point?
Google may well be selling this whole Nexus line at cost, but when you consider both the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X had RRPs of closer to £500 at launch you have to ask the question why? Especially as the spec of the Nexus 4 is near as damn it the same as those two flagships?
Has the price of components come down that much in 12 months? Or have Samsung and HTC been walking away with £200 of profit on each phone for the last year? And mugs like us have been boosting their balance sheets?
This time last year, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was another £499 phone, I know because I bought one at that.
But Google are now somehow able to sell the Nexus 4 at half the price.
So what is the fallout from Google's new pricing? Will everyone else have to follow suit?
Have LG shot themselves in the foot? Who is going to buy the Optimus G now? 1) at a price more than the N4 and 2) with a bunch of LG bloatware/skin on it? Or any other LG phone for that matter?
Where does this leave the likes of ZTE and Huawei? They have been trying their damndest to produce cheap, but high end specs with the likes of the Grand X and Ascend D quad XL, but now those devices are right in the Nexus 4 price range. Surely a no brainer to go for the N4?
Not to mention the plethora of imports that we've been covering in 'Chinese Import Device of the Week'. The highly coveted Xiaomi Mi-Two is due to launch this week at £229, but why would you now import one of these when you can get the Nexus 4 for the same price and have no import/warranty/support issues or worries?
I'm wondering if the whole landscape of phone pricing is about to change? When you look at the spec sheet of the Nexus 4, realistically, what more can you get out a phone? So is £279 the new £499?
In the next 6 months can you really see Sony, HTC and Samsung touting their next flagships or high end devices at £450/£499? Will they really have that much better hardware that what LG have produced on the Nexus 4 to justify such pricing?
And what effect could this have on contract pricing? There is no way the Nexus 4 is a £31/month phone like Carphone Warehouse was advertising it at the other day. And O2 have pencilled it in at £36/month!!! Surely a lower unit cost price will bring down contract prices?
£10/month sim only and a £239 Nexus 4 looks the way forward to me.
Interesting times ahead and i've not even mentioned the £529 iPhone 5 and £450 Lumia 920.
So you've got upto £300 to spend on your next phone, how do you spend it?
Nexus 4, ZTE Grand X, Ascend D quad XL, Xiaomi Mi-Two, Motorola RAZRi, something else?
What you going for and why?
Google may well be selling this whole Nexus line at cost, but when you consider both the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X had RRPs of closer to £500 at launch you have to ask the question why? Especially as the spec of the Nexus 4 is near as damn it the same as those two flagships?
Has the price of components come down that much in 12 months? Or have Samsung and HTC been walking away with £200 of profit on each phone for the last year? And mugs like us have been boosting their balance sheets?
This time last year, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was another £499 phone, I know because I bought one at that.
But Google are now somehow able to sell the Nexus 4 at half the price.So what is the fallout from Google's new pricing? Will everyone else have to follow suit?
Have LG shot themselves in the foot? Who is going to buy the Optimus G now? 1) at a price more than the N4 and 2) with a bunch of LG bloatware/skin on it? Or any other LG phone for that matter?
Where does this leave the likes of ZTE and Huawei? They have been trying their damndest to produce cheap, but high end specs with the likes of the Grand X and Ascend D quad XL, but now those devices are right in the Nexus 4 price range. Surely a no brainer to go for the N4?
Not to mention the plethora of imports that we've been covering in 'Chinese Import Device of the Week'. The highly coveted Xiaomi Mi-Two is due to launch this week at £229, but why would you now import one of these when you can get the Nexus 4 for the same price and have no import/warranty/support issues or worries?
I'm wondering if the whole landscape of phone pricing is about to change? When you look at the spec sheet of the Nexus 4, realistically, what more can you get out a phone? So is £279 the new £499?
In the next 6 months can you really see Sony, HTC and Samsung touting their next flagships or high end devices at £450/£499? Will they really have that much better hardware that what LG have produced on the Nexus 4 to justify such pricing?
And what effect could this have on contract pricing? There is no way the Nexus 4 is a £31/month phone like Carphone Warehouse was advertising it at the other day. And O2 have pencilled it in at £36/month!!! Surely a lower unit cost price will bring down contract prices?
£10/month sim only and a £239 Nexus 4 looks the way forward to me.
Interesting times ahead and i've not even mentioned the £529 iPhone 5 and £450 Lumia 920.
So you've got upto £300 to spend on your next phone, how do you spend it?
Nexus 4, ZTE Grand X, Ascend D quad XL, Xiaomi Mi-Two, Motorola RAZRi, something else?
What you going for and why?
About the author
35 Comments
masterpfa
Nov 02 2012 08:57 AM
With the likes of 3, Giff-Gaff, Virgin, Tesco and T-Mobile offering 30 day rolling contracts or 12 month SIM only contracts, in the UK we have been spoilt by choice so getting a phone like the Nexus 4 has immediately become a viable option for many.
I have for the past 2.5 years been on SIM only contracts and have purchased my phones unlocked and offline. I am no longer tied to a two year contract with a phone, my provider would not repair or replace as I was outside the 1 year manufacturers warranty. I have also saved a bundle load of money. No longer does the family have 5 contracts at £40+ a month all with limitations on minutes, texts and data, instead we are all on £15.50 a month unlimited everything from T-Mobile (via Chitter-Chatter) to surf, text and chat at leisure.
I would always have been a Nexus buyer as I have been since the Nexus 1(OK 1 exception the Nexus S) but as I was more that satisfied with my current Galaxy Nexus, I was prepared to sit this one out. But then the specifications were released followed by the "Verge" video and above all the price has changed all that.
Roll on 13th November,
Google I have a wallet and I'm not afraid to use it.
Haxorg
Nov 02 2012 09:16 AM
Chrisund123
Nov 02 2012 09:53 AM
Troll!
eLJay
Nov 02 2012 12:12 PM
timfimjim
Nov 03 2012 12:30 PM
Pondlife
Nov 03 2012 07:22 PM
Even apps/games can run from external
everett_psycho
Nov 03 2012 09:18 PM
I suppose with the wireless charger in use it keeps the USB free for the otg cable so the battery concerns a lot 9th people have with using this will be slightly eased
comicbookguy
Nov 03 2012 10:41 PM
I suppose with the wireless charger in use it keeps the USB free for the otg cable so the battery concerns a lot 9th people have with using this will be slightly eased
Only if you can use OTG and SlimPort HDMI together, or you want to shell out for a Miracast dongle.......
everett_psycho
Nov 04 2012 03:06 AM
Only if you can use OTG and SlimPort HDMI together, or you want to shell out for a Miracast dongle.......
i didn't think of that, i generally don't need it on the go much as my commute is only 15 minus on the tube, it was mainly for extra music when at work. When I'm at home I use my server for media and my phone is just used as a remote for squeeze boxes and sometimes my wdtv. I really liked having hdmi when I got my o2x but in reality I never use it and I can achieve the needed output using dlna or hdmi on our tablet. Given the space i may just make sure the nexus syncs with drop box and sync that with the server too.
I did like the idea someone on xda had, he proposed an app that will upload your snaps to the cloud then keep a downsized version locally
comicbookguy
Nov 04 2012 10:53 AM
i didn't think of that, i generally don't need it on the go much as my commute is only 15 minus on the tube, it was mainly for extra music when at work. When I'm at home I use my server for media and my phone is just used as a remote for squeeze boxes and sometimes my wdtv. I really liked having hdmi when I got my o2x but in reality I never use it and I can achieve the needed output using dlna or hdmi on our tablet. Given the space i may just make sure the nexus syncs with drop box and sync that with the server too.
I did like the idea someone on xda had, he proposed an app that will upload your snaps to the cloud then keep a downsized version locally