Rise of Budget Smartphone Price Plans in Japan
Budget smartphones price plans are challenging the majors in Japan according to this report: http://bit.ly/1Cv1ODl
Smartphones may be convenient, but there’s one thing about them that bugs many people: their costly monthly data plans. Seizing this opportunity, noncarrier firms have broken into the market in the past several months with low-cost plans and handsets. Here are some questions and answers about budget smartphones:
Who are these budget newcomers?
The new entrants come from a variety of industries: a supermarket chain, electronics stores, Internet providers and so on. Aeon Co., the supermarket giant based in Chiba, released 8,000 budget smartphones in April at its outlets, all of which sold. The chain came out with another phone this month. Bic Camera Inc. also began selling such smartphones in April in its nationwide electronics store chain. K-Opticom, an Osaka-based optical cable provider, launched a budget service in June, while Internet provider Biglobe entered the market this month.
How much cheaper are budget smartphones?
Monthly charges range from around ¥2,000 to ¥3,500, including paying off the handset on an installment plan but excluding charges for voice calls. The three major carriers, Docomo, KDDI’s au and SoftBank, recently announced monthly plans that charge around ¥6,500 to ¥8,000, including voice calls. Full Story Here.