P990i On PAYG

[getti]

Just been sent the new guide from Vodafone Press..... P990i is only £380 on PAYG when u get £20 credit making it £400.

Getting one on Monday as long as there is stock

[crowfield99]

Quite like the look of that! Only one I have though "Don't that phone look sexy!!" Yup, I'm sad I know lol!

[3GScottishUser]

£400..... You can get a fully spec'd laptop for that with all the bells and whistles.

When you consider what a £400 laptop does compared with a smartphone one has to wonder where the prices come from.

[Hands0n]

*licks finger, waves it in the air* - hmmm one has to wonder how they come up with these staggeringly high prices for so-called smartphones. Mobile? So is a laptop, not pocketable but eminently more useable for what its worth.

[chaslam]

Originally Posted by 3GScottishUser

£400..... You can get a fully spec'd laptop for that with all the bells and whistles.

When you consider what a £400 laptop does compared with a smartphone one has to wonder where the prices come from.

To be honest, that doesnt really make sense, and its pretty silly thinking.

If I wanted to get a really good hifi system for my house for say £5000 (which is acually not that steep now adays for a decent system, and could probably set you back more if you wanted it to).

Then I suddenly think "Acually, ill get a new ford KA. That plays music with the build in CD player, and it gets me places, and it will be around the same price".

A laptop and a phone are for completely different markets, using completely different methods of production.

The £400 comes from all the developing of the technology, the touch screen, all the components to make the phone. They are able to make laptops and PCs really very cheap now adays, because all the technology to produce them has long been developed, and nearly all computers have a "1 size fits all" policy, whereas phones dont. Its not like you can just get a new screen for your P990 from another phone, say an N70. Every phone has to have its own screen, prossesor, logic board etc custom made for that exact phone, whereas PCs can mix and match, so one company will just specialize in making say the HDDs, and will mass produce them, whereas with a phone, that cant be done. And lets not forget, with a Laptop, for £400 your not going to get the best made product in the world. It will probably have been made with the cheapest materials, the cheapest components, whereas the P990 will no doubt be of high quality being an SE product.

Personally, I think £380 is a great price for a high spec'ed phone like the P990.

[3GScottishUser]

Eh?

Mobiles are really no different from any other mass produced electronic products. They do have many common components that are supplied by specialist manufacturers. Chipsets, batteries and displays are mass produced, often the same components are used in both expensive and lower end models. Some lower end phones have funtionality deliberately disabled simply to justify the higher priced models features!!

I think the volume of mobile handsets must be similar or exceeds the number of laptops produced so there should be very considerable economies of scale. Sadly people are prepared to pay a huge premium to have the latest all singing all dancing handset as is their choice but the only way prices will actually come down is if people resist hefty unjustifyable price tags.

I suspect the contract market distorts retail pricing of handsets in the UK. The networks have massive buying power and can get very substantial discounts to offer the latest models free of charge on contracts. Contract costs seem to be the benchmark for the retail pricing of top end mobiles.

I personally think £400 for a P990 is OTT. If asked what I would be prepared to pay for it or most other smartphones I would say about £200, perhaps a little more for the likes of the N93 but not much.

[Ben]

Mhm, you both have points. One can't deny, though, that minaturisation is expensive - hence why laptops attract a premium over PC's, and so price-for-features is not compatible between a laptop and a handset. I can also say with confidence that one cannot buy a fully spec'd laptop with all the bells and whistles for £400 - but one can get a reasonable one for that price.

However, the handset manufacturers do, afaik, have quite large margins on their products, especially at the top end. Going off Nokia's stats we'd be looking at anything from 20-40% profit margin. Though, with the P990i taking so long to arrive, it's quite reasonable to believe that Sony Ericsson has extensive R&D costs to recover.

£400 seems fine to me. I've paid £400 for many mobiles. I'm not saying it wouldn't be nice if they were cheaper, just that this is the price the market dictates and appears to give the manufacturers the right balance between volume and profit.

On contract, of course, the price will be subsidised to levels more acceptable to the majority of buyers.

[getti]

Just back from town and not only do i have a P990 but might have sorted myself a job in the store!.

It cost £400 which included a PAYG SIM and £20 credit. Box is an official SE one and there is no hardware branding at all. At the bottom of the flip where you would expect a Vodafone logo it just says P990i in the SE font so its a SE phone.

Software branding is limited to a startup and shut down screen that can be changed if you need/want. Also there are settings that can be removed.

So i got a sim free generic version for £380 instead of £530!. Screen protector i had still in packaging for the Nokia E61 from martin Fields fits PERFECT!, Just applied and put in my Vodafone PAYG SIM. Added the credit and free weekends. I feel sorry for the poor lady on the automated service havint to tell me my account now.

'Welome to vodafone pay as you talk. You are on the smartplus price plan with free weekends, vodafone passport and vodafone stop the clock.... your balance is £143.98p'

Phoned 3 and cancelled my Wireless Web 56 and Mobile TV add-ons as my plan is to pay off the rental only per month until month 3 then i can drop to £15 a month and clear it to cancel (no point handing them £300 for the sake of it).

Will post some live shots a little later on today for everyone to drool over

[Alio]

I'm sorry......£400/+ quid for a "phone".......Err Nah!

I know they are cool an all......but I couldnt warrent speding £400 on a new range phone......it's mad! especially when you can wait a few weeks and get it a damn sight cheaper........I've been wanting a N93 since it was announced.......yes could of bought it from nokia for £500 + quid when it first came out........but I could simply not justify paying out so much money just to be one of the first people to say that I have one!

Laptop, Yeah!.......don't mind paying £500+ for one of those, because I get alot more use out of it........but not a phone........I finally paid £119 for my N93 and thought this was quite good.

Still......each to there own!

[Hands0n]

Where on Earth did you pay £119 for a N93? Was that on Contract or PAYG?

[Alio]

(HandsOn)-Where on Earth did you pay £119 for a N93? Was that on Contract or PAYG?

On contract from 8mobile.co.uk

Nokia N93 - £119.99
Voda 500mins + 500txt + Stop the Clock
Accessories
3mths FREE Insurance
12 month contract - £40pm

Cool in it!

[Ben]

Not bad, though we must take into account that big subsidies are almost always available on contract. SIM-Free and PAYG are very different. You're 'topping up' that £119.99 handset price with the contracted payments - it all gets factored in somewhere.

[getti]

The thing about contracts are they guarantee an income to the network of at least the minimum line rental.

Someone could get a PAYG phone and never top up which i guess is why they charge more

[Alio]

(Ben) Not bad, though we must take into account that big subsidies are almost always available on contract. SIM-Free and PAYG are very different. You're 'topping up' that £119.99 handset price with the contracted payments - it all gets factored in somewhere.

True.......however for quite a few heavy phone users......contract works out cheaper in the long run......plus allows people like myself who haven't got a spare £500 in loose change to buy a sim free joby......to be able to still get a new range phone for a smallish affordable cost that the wife/girlfriend won't mind to much ........plus being on contract does give you the option to upgrade fairly well also.