OPERATOR SUBSIDY STRATEGIES AND ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF MAKING SMARTPHONES AFFORDABLE

It makes sense for operators to make smartphones affordable in other ways, because tariffs allowing early handset upgrades and lower tariff charges by separating handset and airtime charges may be more relevant to consumers.
Handset subsidies are a common strategy that operators use to make smartphones more affordable. Operators may subsidise part or all of the handset cost to promote take-up of their service offering. However, handset subsidies squeeze operators’ profit margins, because they cannot recoup all subsidies through service charges.

This report considers smartphone subsidy levels and strategies for smartphones by looking at one example, the iPhone 5S (16GB). We have selected a variety of tariffs from 16 different operators in 5 countries in order to compare operators’ subsidy and tariff strategies.
This Viewpoint and data annex provide:
an examination of operators’ subsidy levels and strategies for high-end smartphones based on the example of the iPhone 5S (16GB)
an in-depth analysis of alternative ways of providing affordable smartphones in selected case studies
recommendations for operators and examples of best practice.
GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE

This report includes information on the smartphone subsidies offered by operators in the following countries.
France
Germany

Sweden
UK

USA
COMPANY COVERAGE

The subsidy analysis in this report includes information on the following operators.
AT&T
Bouygues Telecom
EE
Orange

SFR
Sprint
TeliaSonera
Telefonica

T-Mobile
Verizon Wireless
Vodafone