2013 is going to be a big year for T-Mobile, with a new LTE network, a new business model for selling phones, and iPhone availability for the first time. CEO John Legere gave more details on those last two items to Reuters, revealing that both the iPhone and the end of phone subsidies would come sooner than expected. They’re both planned to roll out “in three to four months as opposed to six to nine months,” according to an interview with Legare.
There are already an insane number of people living subpar lives with an iPhone on T-Mobile. When it becomes legally avaialble on T-Mobile, either by network changes or handset changes, T-Mobile will have an even easier time selling iPhones. But that is not the point here. T-Mobile wants to change you only for the price of the phone, after you pay it off, you get the service for the value of the service. That’s the deal.
Results are what matter though. Nothing is going to change in the iPhone market. But other phones that are also highly priced, well, those won’t be purchased by average people. Apple gets away with it because it’s Apple; HTC, LG and others can’t get away with $700 phones. But you know who can? Google and the Nexus 4 at a reasonably priced $299-399. It’s reasonable and you can pay it off in a single year. That’s what I want to see in this new business model for selling phones.