In my previous post I outlined the pricing for the iPhone launch in Australia, this will form the corner stone for this article. If you need a copy of it, click here. Now down to business, let's look at the various pricing strategies.
Optus
It appears clear that Optus are following through with their plans to buy back market share. Over the last 12 months, Optus has lost 1% subscribership and 2% of their annual revenue. For a company that a few years back looked to rival market leader Telstra and gain the lion share of the $12Billion mobile market, these are bleak times.
The deal they are offering is about 6 times better than their nearest rival. I can't help but think that they are on the right path, encouraging people to not only buy the phone for aspirational reasons, but to actually use its functionality and gain profits therein.
Agree or not, the consumer sentiment at Gizmodo was very negative towards the proposed plan!
Telstra
Testra continue to trade off of their staunch customer loyalty, for some that would be a compliment, in this case it definitely is not! Their offer is price skimming, they are trying to take all the cream and make this iPhone investment return its value in mach 3 time.
Where teh Telestra plan falls down (assuming people stick with them) is that it punishes consumers for using the 3G features. Based on the pricing structure, you can only use your iPhone very lightly if you don't want to incur enormous premiums...what a joke!
It has been a long time since I have seen Telstra offer true value to consumers. It reminds me of La Porchetta, they set their standards extremely low and yet continually fail to meet them.
Vodaphone
Well arguably Vodaphone is at the mercy of Telstra, ironically they do offer a better contract, but can't rival that of Optus. All this said, if they stick to their guns and target Telstra's fringe users, they may be able to wrestle a substantial amount of market sahre and harness the iPhone to its full potential
Josh's Opinion
Optus appear to have the best strategy, but it is not because it is cheap. It is good because it encourages users to use new features and functionality which in the long run is Optus's bread and butter. The others are not really leveraging the full potential of the iPhone.
Sam Berringer's Opinion
I love the iPhone, but I am shocked at the lack of advertising from any party. I know there are some viral campagins and plenty of word of mouth, but if I was them I would be trying to get my existing user base to early upgrade and start using their mobile more. Start the ball rolling and their friends will jump on board as well.
Posts
