Sprint Stops Offering Two-Year Phone Contracts

This is bad news for all 12 Sprint customers.

Should be interesting when Apple announces pricing for the next iPhone.

I'm glad carriers in the US finally caught up with the rest of the world.

Good! Apple can still say 199 etc as long as someone can get an agreement, even if only reactive
[doublepost=1452219230][/doublepost]
People know and love it anyway

Actually you'd be surprised how many people not only don't know, but actually believe that the iPhone in their hands only cost $199. I've had people argue that very issue with me. It's amazing but true.

One more carrier about to expose the true premium prices that Apple charges. No more concealing the truth.

It will no longer be masked at 199/299 type price points.

But they're still not putting a giant $649 price tag next to the phone either.

I noticed Verizon has replaced the old $199/$299 price tags with their new payment plan equivalencies:

$27.08/mo
$31.24/mo
$35.41/mo

I've learned that there's a surprising number of people who don't understand that those 199/299 prices aren't the full price of the phone.

The old way was paying $199 down and the rest of your phone payment was hidden inside your monthly bill. You're right... nobody knew what the hell was going on.

But the new way is showing you exactly how much of your bill is for the phone... and how much is for service. It's separate. When you talk to the salesman... they have a worksheet where they tally up the various parts of your plan (the base voice/sms plan, the phone, the data package, etc)

And if you do pay full price for a phone... or someone gives you an old phone... you're not paying for the phone every month. Only for the service.

It actually easier to understand now.

Apparently you enjoy leaving out Android phones that don't fit your Apple crapping narrative. The current "Top Flight" Android would be the S6 Edge+, which you're correct has a slightly bigger screen than the 6s Plus. Not sure who or where you're looking at, but for a comparable 64GB phone, it is the same exact price as the 6s Plus. You can argue the 32GB model is slightly better priced since Apple does not make a 32GB 6s Plus....but other than that, you're flat-out wrong.

With all due respect, you're out of your league on this. The Nexus 6P is THE premium Android device with a larger screen than the iPhone 6S+ that is also $200 cheaper.

Perhaps you didn't read the part of my statement where I said "Soon, the only manufacturers that will dare make their base models so expensive will be Apple and Samsung."

I'm interested in what this means for future iPhone pricing. Now that everyone will see the unsubsidized price. It will no longer be masked at 199/299 type price points. I've learned that there's a surprising number of people who don't understand that those 199/299 prices aren't the full price of the phone.

A lot of posters screamed from the mountaintops they were leaving AT&T when they announced this same things.

Where do they intend on going, exactly?

It's always interesting how when people see one of the carriers ending contracts some assume that knowing the true $649 price is somehow going to hurt Apple. On the contrary, this just makes it easier for Apple to sell even more Iphones.

Now instead of advertising the iPhone for $199, Apple can advertise them for $0 upfront with an asterisk about the monthly payment. This is America and the vast majority don't care how much the product costs over two years, they only care how much it costs right now to walk out the door with one. That price is now going to be $0 plus sales tax on all carriers. Lovely for Apple.

For an example of how this is already proven true, look no further than T-Mobile. They've been doing this for almost 3 years now and yet the iPhone is easily their best selling device despite consumers seeing the $649 price. "$0" is great advertising.

Now the other reason why Apple will sell more iPhones than ever is because these carrier financing plans give customers the flexibility to easily upgrade every year rather than wait the full two years. With the two year subsidy one had to pay full retail to upgrade after only a year, now pretty much every carrier offers some type of trade in program where you can give them your old iPhone and repeat the $0 financing cycle with the latest model all over again.

For me personally I can usually get around $450 for my year old iPhone when the new one comes out. That $450 is enough to cover the remaining balance owed to the carrier on the device, allowing me to upgrade each year at $0 down as well for those who like to sell their phones themselves.

Don't be surprised when we see "iPhone 7 is the best selling iPhone ever" later this year.