Researching smartphone subscription packages is like hunting the proverbial moving target because there are fundamental service factors, core product features, and add-on capabilities to delight a variety of consumer wants.
Where the mobile phone telcos are concerned, the fundamentals have to do with cell coverage, radiated signal power, and connection stability. Even the best mobile unit in the universe will steadily lose customers if the carrier plagues subscribers with “dead spots” outdoors (a function of the number of cell sites covering a metropolitan area completely), weak signals that cannot penetrate through building walls and down to basements, and such poor capacity that users experience dropped calls or are unreachable.
To an extent, high-gain antennas can offset uneven network coverage. These and other advanced features – large memory capacity, replaceable memory cards, the ability to process and display multi-media files, built-in still/video camera with flash, high-density photoreceptors for improved picture quality, QWERTY keypads, large screens, organizer suites (reminders, alarms, appointment notes, Wi-Fi Internet access, Bluetooth and cable connectivity for transferring files and pictures, “value-added” apps such as those created by third parties for the iPhone/iTouch line, games, etc. – are both boon and bane to buyers.
Mobile phone users experience high self-satisfaction at being more equipped for anything that comes along and being able to show off to friends. It is also a bane because development and market introduction cycles for handset users are measured in months, certainly far shorter than the typical subscription lock-in period.
By comparison, price is less important than value; the latter can include subscription terms which the mobile service carriers leverage in creative ways. A handy size has plunged to the bottom of subscribers’ criteria lists owing to the trade-off with larger touch-responsive screens and QWERTY keypads. And core functionality – being able to make and accept voice calls and short “text” messages – is not even a consideration anymore because the product category has developed overwhelmingly in favor of consumer delight.
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