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Since May of 2005, he has switched carriers twice just to get the phone he wanted. First, he dumped Sprint Nextel for Cingular Wireless so he could get the Audiovox SMT 5600, a small candybar-style smart phone running the Windows Mobile operating system.
Less than a year later, he jumped to T-Mobile to get his hands on the JasJar QTEK 9000. This foreign phone came equipped with high-end screen resolution, video calling, a Qwerty keyboard, stereo external speakers, 3G and Wi-Fi capability, and Bluetooth wireless.
The new phone cost the New York City resident $929 plus the $160 fee to break his contract with Cingular.
Four months later, the bug hit him again when a smaller, sleeker foreign phone hit the market called the HTC Prophet (aka the i-mate JAMin). It cost $575. Again, the price didn't matter to Gordon. But this time he was already a T-Mobile customer, so he didn't have to jump carriers. He bought the new phone the first day it went on sale.
"My girlfriend is furious at me for spending so much money on phones," the 27-year-old Gordon wrote in an e-mail. "Am I an addict? Yes, and I love it. This is phone geek lust in its purest form."
For many people, cell phones have become an essential accessory that expresses who they are. Some, like Gordon, want the latest and greatest technology. Others, like the millions of consumers who went nuts for Motorola's ultrathin Razr phones, want the hippest designs.
But how many consumers are actually willing to choose their cell phone provider based on the phones that are offered? Analysts say the number of people who would switch providers and eat the cost of breaking contracts to get a cool new phone is relatively small. Still, a phone's design and features are becoming important factors in deciding to stay with a carrier once a contract expires.
"Historically in the U.S. market, phones haven't played a big factor in a customer's decision to subscribe to a certain service," said Iain Gillott, an analyst with iGillott Research. "But it's becoming a consideration. Still, the main reason consumers choose an operator is usually network coverage, reliability and price."
According to a survey conducted by The Yankee Group in April 2006, 20 percent of respondents indicated that network quality was the most important factor in determining which provider they chose when purchasing their plans. Only 3 percent said the model of mobile phone offered by the carrier influenced their purchasing decision.
But when consumers were asked what would keep them loyal to their current provider, 28 percent said more frequent handset upgrades would prevent them from jumping ship.
"While the phone may not be the main reason a consumer chooses a carrier's service, once they are with a particular carrier they want the opportunity to get better handsets more frequently," said Linda Barrabee, an analyst with The Yankee Group. "And if they don't get what they want, they can look elsewhere when the contract expires."
That's exactly what John Papadopoulos, a 25-year-old sales associate in Boston, is doing. Papadopoulos, who has been a Verizon Wireless customer since 1999, said he plans to switch to Cingular in November when his contract expires so he can get the Samsung SGH-D807, a small, slim phone he says has all the "fixin's" including a camera and MP3 music player. The phone Papadopoulos uses now is the Samsung SCH-A670, a 2-year-old model that he says is too big and renders poor picture quality with its built-in camera.
Papadopoulos, who said he is perfectly happy with the quality of Verizon's network, could get a new phone when his contract runs out. But he said even the new LG Chocolate, which has many of the same features as the Samsung phone from Cingular, is too bulky for his taste.
"I want something that can fit in my pocket so it's not uncomfortable or noticeable," he said. "It just seems like Verizon has a policy to sell the ugliest, most nonfunctional phones."
See more CNET content tagged:
Helio, Verizon Wireless, Motorola Razr, carrier, Cingular Wireless
Which is ironic because we're leaving Verizon Wireless when our contract ends in 11 months because their technicians describe our new home's coverage as "weak-to-adequate" and "a known trouble spot" and "no plans in improve coverage" and my new work location as "a known trouble spot" with "no plans to improve coverage."
There is always a latest model and it's always much better than what you have now. At some point you have to decide if you want to continue dropping a percent or two of your annual income on new cell phones.
I decided it wasn't worth it and have had the same phone for two years. It works fine, and I use the savings to refill my kegerator.
Then there was Boost/Nextel and the i95cl, which was the best it had at the time, but what I really liked on that phone was being able to customize it with that program and the clear case. Again, thought it was the coolest. $400.
Then there was the NEC 515HDM. At the time, best quality screen money could buy, could upload pictures at will in total high definition. $400 (that phone was stolen from me).
Then it was the T-mobile MDA. $500. I used it for a couple of months before I realized I didn't really like it. It's quite possibly the most versatile of devices. Load anything you want via USB, any program, QWERTY, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth...but still I wasn't satisfied, mostly because I got frustrated with having to always connect to EDGE.
Now I have a BlackBerry Pearl. $450. Quite frankly I'm happy with this phone, but if that 8800 comes out....well...
All that said, one thing about me is that I refuse to purposely break contract just because another carrier has a phone that I might want. If I'm with a carrier, I'll wait until the contract is up to go with another. That part is stupid, forcing ETFs on yourself for a phone.
I'll admit, Cingular does have its misgivings, like not telling me who did the independent study that judged them best. But at least they are smart enough to be GSM and don't have dropped calls. I can attest that they don't drop a call.
And be objective.
Our problem with Sprint was they turned our services off TWICE in less than an hour, stating that we're on the internet through our phones...Internet access we didn't even have access to. They put a block on it, so that we could not get on the internet, which was great...of course, after they applied the block to the phones we were charged 451!!!! dollars for internet usage.
Text messaging-Wonderful idea that someone came up with. We called Sprint, because 'due to charges of text messaging on our phones' they tell us Don't text people, we tell them we don't text because we have FREE PCS to PCS. They said 'no problem, we'll put a block on it.' We thanked them 349 dollars later in text messages.
We paid over ONE THOUSAND dollars within one months time for them charging us for B.S problems...but NEVER once went over out minutes.
SO the moral of my story is, always carry vasoline with you when they screw you.
Yours Truly,
1600 dollar sprint bill waiting to be paid.
that go for the "coolest" phones and stuff. And I have to admit
some of the new phones are really cool and can do a lot of stuff,
however, I don't see a point in buying a phone with all that
"stuff" on it. I normally get the "free" phone my carrier has
whenever its time to upgrade, and its not because thats all I can
afford. I could get the "cool new smart phone" but why??? Most
people I know end up carrying laptops with them now, I know I
do. So whats the point of having all the extra stuff on your
phone to slow down performance. I simply want my phone to
make a call when I need it to, thats all.
- Hello from The Cell Phone Junkie
- by gt2697 November 12, 2006 3:51 PM PST
- Mickey here from "The Cell Phone Junkie" (www.thecellphonejunkie.com). Nice to see some confessions from other junkies out there. Maggie: Kudos to you for a great story!
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