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3G Pricing Keeping Carrier Tablet Sales Down
'Nobody Wants to Pay for That Data,' Says Analyst
You'll probably recall that wireless carriers got terribly excited a few years back by the netbook craze, offering users subsidized netbooks that often involved integrated mobile data plans. Such devices didn't fare particularly well, and were quickly eclipsed by tablets -- which carriers have now also embraced with great enthusiasm. Except such tablets aren't selling very well either (at least through carriers), and according to IDG analyst Bob O'Donnell a big reason why is the data plans attached to the devices. "The 3G thing on tablets is bogus," O'Donnell tells Computerworld. "Nobody wants to pay for that data." O'Donnell predicts that carriers will finally shake up pricing to help move tablets sometime this fall. That's a fairly good prediction, since both AT&T and Verizon have hinted at launching family plan "bucket 'o bytes" pricing, where multiple users and devices pull from one pool of bytes.

Most recommended from 34 comments


ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

6 recommendations

ISurfTooMuch

Member

I call it "subscription fatighe"

I like to call this situation "subscription fatigue". Every company out there wants you to subscribe to their services, and people are getting tired of it. I mean, you are being asked to subscribe to things like:

Power
Gas
Water
Cable/satellite
Internet
Cell phone
Landline or VoIP phone
Netflix
Hulu Plus
Satellite radio
Newspaper
Magazines

And most everyone has a mortgage and car payments, and many younger folks have student loans.

Now, I'm not saying that everyone subs to all these services, but they're all out there, bugging the hell out of us, and, honestly, it's getting to be too much. And now the cell companies think we are ready to pay yet again for Internet on yet another device. Not me. I just don't see the value in it. If I'm at home, I'll use my home connection, if I'm at work, I'll use my work connection, and if I'm traveling, I'll use my smartphone and wi-fi. Where, exactly, is a tablet going to be so necessary that I have to pay another $30/month to use it?

These guys all seem to think we're swimming in cash, just looking for someone to give it to. Not me, and I suspect many others have also hit their limits. If you want to sell me something that will reduce my bills, I'm listening. Otherwise, bug off.