Over the last few weeks, Verizon has subjected anyone in front of a television with some pretty interesting commercials. Kind of… Clovererfield/Transformers-esque.
I’ll go ahead and post one here for your enjoyment.
And then of course, the original advertisement. Anti-Apple much? I’m definitely an Apple Fanboy at this point and you might expect that I would be pissed that Verizon would put out such a commercial. Not really though because it seems to me that it’s about time Apple’s iPhone got some real competition and if that’s the Droid, then bring on the ads.
So there you go, Verizon + Motorola + Google Android = DROID = iPhone Killer. Fantastic. Competition is good! Apple will again begin pushing the limits on what a phone can do. Maybe go after those attacks about no flash, only 2mp camera, etc etc. Meanwhile, since the DROID phone is so closely tied to Verizon and the iPhone to AT&T, maybe we’ll see some benefits there too right?
AT&T has horrendous 3G coverage around the nation, especially when compared to Verizon. That’s an obvious first step on AT&T’s part. How about cost? I pay my iPhone bill every month and every month I think… wow that’s a lot of money. I bet with the DROID phone, Verizon will go after AT&T’s bottom line. Make their DROID plans significantly cheaper than the iPhone. Any amount over $10 is a dramatic difference, if they were $30 a month cheaper I might even be tempted to switch! Better 3G coverage and cheaper monthly plans?!
Well, unfortunately, Ronald Reagan was wrong. Competition doesn’t fuel the benefits he and other “Reaganomics” economists promised. For the most part, the DROID cost of ownership is exactly the same as the iPhone with only one plan cheaper. By how much? By a massive $0.01!
Chart created by Nicole Lee from CNet.com
Wow that’s disappointing. When you break down the differences in price which is only in the text message options, it becomes a total wash. The DROID is cheaper for the small text message plan (250 vs 200 messages) but for the high end the iPhone is better (5000 vs unlimited). Guess I’ll stick to my iPhone.
UPDATE: Turns out Verizon plans to charge $15/month for access to Exchange on the DROID, something A&T doesn’t charge for on the iPhone. So if you, like me, use Exchange on your phone, turns out the iPhone is $180 a year cheaper, $360 for the length of the contract which is around or more than than the price of getting out of your contract with either carrier!
Let’s get a bit political. The Republicans are saying that natural competition between insurance companies will decrease the price of premiums and increase the availability of coverage. Well, not so true as seen here. When companies are in collusion with each other to keep prices at a certain point, they have no real reason to undercut the competition. Ugh.
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If you give Verizon the benefit of the doubt, the pricing model may rest on confidence that people would get more bang for the buck by using the Droid. The sales pitch is the Droid does a lot more than the iPhone. The Droid may lack the external sleekness of the iPhone, but in terms of capability, it looks like it can kick some ass. Apple has made significant effort into making a fashion statement through design, but marketing folks at Motorola and Google appear to have focused on going after the iPhone's weaknesses instead of attempting to emulate it's stronger ones, which make all the rest just iPhone wannabees.
Good and valid points. Whether or not you get more for the money is yet to be determined. The free turn-by-turn directions is a $70 value (on the low end) and certainly a worthy and welcome benefit. However, Google promises to put this on the iPhone, Apple-willing.
As far as strict pricing goes, however, turns out the iPhone is $15/m cheaper if you use Exchange, as I do. On just about any other AT&T phone, you have to pay $15/m for Exchange access (calendar, contacts, email etc). However, with the iPhone, that cost is non-existent. Unfortunately Verizon will charge that $15/m for any DROID using Exchange. Hopefully this changes. If it doesn't, then that $10/m price difference I mentioned in the post comes into play, only this is a $15/m savings.
I hope the DROID's features mutilate all other phones on the market. Being a “fan-boy” or Apple love doesn't mean I don't want competition. If no one ever challenged Apple we would have no smartphone innovation.
Thanks for your comments, I appreciate views on both sides, even when we're actually agreeing with each other 😛
It looks as though T-Mobile and Sprint are the ones offering the price breaks with the plans, however they don't have the iPhone. Each has Android phones, but none as appealing the DROID. As a current Tmo and Android user I'm hoping the rumors are true that the DROID might be coming to more than one carrier (crosses fingers for Tmo!)
I agree, valid does not translate to true, but we are on the same page here after all. We will have to wait and see if features/capabilities motivate the consumer to go that “extra mile.” Motorola’s future may depend on it. Have a good one.