Consumers in the UK increasingly sign up to prepaid accounts, which allow them to obtain wireless services in bite-sized chunks. Not only they can better control how many minutes they want to talk and how many megabytes they need everyday, consumers can also cancel the contract at any time. In contrast, major carriers in the generally ask subscribers to sign up for a couple years of service agreements, which can be very expensive, despite the significant discount on device pricing.
The new trend is a worrying development for Apple, whose smartphone models bring the lion’s share of its revenue. A large proportion of iPhone units sold in the UK come with standard contracts plans with high-priced monthly payments that can subsidize the entire phone costs.
Latest iPhone models are exceptionally expensive, considering their smaller display and the absence of a few basic features, such as removable battery, microUSB port, NFC and microSD card slot. The company may face the possibility of losing a portion of its market share to more affordable smartphone on prepaid plans. New budget Android smartphone models in the UK offer many things the iPhone has.
