If you are reading this then you did a search for the new Nexus One from Google. Hopefully the title of this post did not lead you to believe I was going to review this item. I am not.
I am here to talk briefly about the impact I hope this phone has on cell phone plans in the U.S. Google is doing something almost unheard of… selling the Nexus One as an unlocked (not locked to a carrier) phone without a cell phone service plan (You can also get it with a two year service contract through T-Mobile at the time of this writing).
I am hoping this is a really good thing. Apple should have done this with the iPhone, and I think they would still be getting $600 each for them if they did. Buyers of the Nexus One are going to want a cellular service plan that does not subsidize the cost of the phone, since they bought the phone outright without discounts.
Hopefully the Nexus One will prompt enough customers to demand cell phone plans that are cheaper when you are not subsidizing a phone purchase. And that is my hopes for the Nexus One.
Think about this… I have yet to hear of a cellular provider lowering the cost of a plan after the phone’s price has been covered. My current phone it 3 years old, long past its two year contract… but they did not lower my monthly bill by $15-20. Granted, I am on a family plan and at least two of the four phones in my home are still under their two year commitments. But if you could regularly buy phones outright and get plans that are appropriate, I would just assume buy everyone in my family a phone and get that cheaper plan. Then we can buy replacement phones any time a new, super cool phone comes out… or enjoy the savings of using a 3 year old phone that is good enough.
What do you think?
