Captivate on sale for $9.99 - WTF???

[gunny5821]

OK folks, I took my daily view of Wirefly.com today since I am still on my 30 day try it to like it period. While there I found the Captivate was dropped down to $9.99 with free activation and shipping. So I must ask, WTF??? Why is a phone of this caliber, one of the top dogs in the AT&T bullpen, on it's way to being a FREE phone very soon. The phone has been out for 30 days thus far!

Well, after doing a lot of research, I pulled the trigger and I am retunring the Captivate and grabbing the SE X10. Since SE has come forth and promised the 2.1 upgrade and 2.2 as well, I jumping on board. Hopefully it will all pan out as speculated, but I am riding on the hardware. I just feel the hardware on the X10 is a step up from the Captivate and was a big consideration for the switch.

So, what are your thoughts on this new development????

 

[Ogami Itto]

Who the hell cares how much is it being sold for? If you liked the phone, then what is the problem exactly?

 

[sirlanceem]

Who the hell cares how much is it being sold for? If you liked the phone, then what is the problem exactly?

Exactly and if worse comes to worse... return it and buy it for the new price?? lol

 

[carmendiva]

I saw it too, and was considering it but im giving the Xperia a chance as well and hope i like it and the network

 

[mongstradamus]

both the vibrant and captivate are priced very low for new customers. Who knows why they are going for that low, i assume its because of the large inventory they have of both phones.

 

[gunny5821]

I just think it is giving people a bad taste when they see a phone selling for $199.99 and than 30 days later selling for $9.99. I don't see that kinda of price dropping with the other companies, at least not that quick. Go figure...

 

[Infinite-t]

From what I read about the x10, the hardware is nothing more than what the captivate has in fact... it has less. I do like their spin of the media player on it. The 8mp camera sounds impressive but the side by side quality of the pictures wasn't really much different.

I was curious another them too. But when I really read into it and even went and played with it, I found it a bit underwhelming. But if you dig it, that's what matters right?

As far as updates, remember the Capt comes with 2.1 and 2.2 is promised soon.

But hey, if the x10 doesn't work out you can go back and get a Capt for $10.0

 

[Infinite-t]

That is also an offer to new att customers only. Carriers make much more on accounts then they do phones. If they have to give away a phone that probably cost them 40.00 for a new account that is worth 100.00 a month, they will. Notice the aria is free and the brand new x10 is 50 bucks.

Yea it does kinda chap my ass I paid 120. For this thing just z few weeks ago: /

 

[JDM9499]

OK folks, I took my daily view of Wirefly.com today since I am still on my 30 day try it to like it period. While there I found the Captivate was dropped down to $9.99 with free activation and shipping. So I must ask, WTF??? Why is a phone of this caliber, one of the top dogs in the AT&T bullpen, on it's way to being a FREE phone very soon. The phone has been out for 30 days thus far!

Well, after doing a lot of research, I pulled the trigger and I am retunring the Captivate and grabbing the SE X10. Since SE has come forth and promised the 2.1 upgrade and 2.2 as well, I jumping on board. Hopefully it will all pan out as speculated, but I am riding on the hardware. I just feel the hardware on the X10 is a step up from the Captivate and was a big consideration for the switch.

So, what are your thoughts on this new development????

I was reading about the Captivate vs. the X10. Just to let you know, you will be taking a huge leap backwards in technology. From the XDA forums...

"The Xperia 10 is OLD-GEN hardware (2009) it's been out in other places for a while. The only pro you'll find is the Camera. But it's ok if you like

-384mb of ram, instead of 512mb
-LCD instead of SUPERAMOLED
-Android 1.6 (soon to be updated as well) instead of 2.1 (soon to be froyo)
-9gb of storage (1gb internal, +8gb microsd) instead of 16+ micro
-Old bluetooth instead of 3.0

and finally a old gen snapdragon, instead of the best GPU/CPU on the MOBILE Market! Not to mention, a six-axis sensor that you'll be mising out on."

Hmmm, sounds like it's a NO BRAINER to me....

 

[Android_J]

Hell, I paid $199 for mine just 30 days ago. On one hand I don't really care but on another hand I can't think of any other smart phone that has gone from $199 to $10 in a month. That sucks and is kind of a slap in the face. For any future Samsung phone purchases I will wait out the 30 days.

 

[BobPaul]

both the vibrant and captivate are priced very low for new customers. Who knows why they are going for that low, i assume its because of the large inventory they have of both phones.

Might be because they need to blow out defective hardware before the word gets out.

 

[JDM9499]

Phones are sold for less at independent retailers because they are paid a commission from from AT&T for each contract they get a customer to sign. The money is not made from the sale of a phone, it is made in a 2-year commitment. And, if you purchase from an independent retailer and decide to break contract, you pay a fee to them + AT&T. *Ouch*

 

[Intervenient]

I'm not sure I see the problem. When this phone was released at launch, Wal-mart had it for free, Wirefly had it for a dollar I believe, and a few others had it at around $50. $10 isn't out of the question, but I guess it is kind of a slap in the face to those who paid $200.

 

[c2k]

Lol I paid 275 on early upgrade. I wouldnt trade that for anything coming from the backflip. This phone is amazing and has WAY more developement than anything on ATT. I didnt realize how much they locked the backflip down until I got this phone. And I agree with other people, I read a few articles on the X10's hardware, does really seem to compare, at least not in all areas

 

[Android_J]

deleted

 

[myrv]

I can definitely see where paying $200 for a phone and a month later it being $10 would piss someone off. I can also see why a phone's price plummeting might scare someone off. In the end I feel that it comes from perceived value. A phone that is selling for $10 is not perceived to be a top of the line phone, regardless of what is inside of it.

A phone devaluing itself quickly also means that it is likely to have little to to no resale value. While resale value for some may not be important, others like to upgrade their phone every year and enjoy being able to sell their current phone to help fund that swap. That is one of the interesting things about the iPhone line. I came from an iPhone 3GS over to Android. I paid $300 for my iPhone new from AT&T a year ago. I am can still sell this phone to someone for at least $250, but have seen people get $350 or more, even after the release of the iPhone 4.

 

[richierich]

The iPhone's resale value is still high here because people export them and sell them for much more overseas.

 

[sparker366]

OK folks whats the big deal. This 9.99 is for a new account. Renewals pay 79.99 for the phone.

So Joe Schmoe off the street with no cell service can go in and buy the phone for 9.99 add a 2gb data pkg for 25.00 and a txt plan and the calling plan and he is hooked for 2yrs.

 

[robphelan]

OK folks whats the big deal. This 9.99 is for a new account. Renewals pay 79.99 for the phone.

So Joe Schmoe off the street with no cell service can go in and buy the phone for 9.99 add a 2gb data pkg for 25.00 and a txt plan and the calling plan and he is hooked for 2yrs.

the big deal is that many people, like me, just paid 199 + upgrade fee etc.. for this phone while it's being sold all the way down to 10.

I'm glad I'm seeing posts like this so I can return/rebuy before my 30 days are up.

 

[Ph8]

As others have said you cant really look at places like Wirefly and take that as a "real" price. They can price the phone at whatever they want (even free) since they dont make money off the phone they make it off the service agreement. ATT on the other hand makes money off of both, so its in thier best interest to seel the phone at a higher price.

Retailers like Wirefly, LetsTalk, and most other resellers make money off the contract they sell you. The more you pay monthly the more money they make. So if they sell you a phone for a $200 loss but make $500 in comission off the plan they make a profit. BTW I know for a FACT that they can price the phone at whatever they want, its so they get people to buy te phone AND the plan though them. Themore agressivly they price the phone the more cusotmers they get, thus the more plans they have going through them to mkae up the hardware loss.

I see this all the time in multiple electronics forums. I paid x amount 30-6 months ago and now its x price. If you are not prepared for the price drop then stick with your old phone. This happenes all the time in the electronics world and its nothing new. Either your happy with your purchase or not, if your not then return it.

 

[baddress]

Might be because they need to blow out defective hardware before the word gets out.

You're assuming there's some non-defective hardware anywhere in the pipeline

 

[Space Cowboy]

That's nothing... I saw it for free.

 

[sremick]

All phones are destined to be $99, $50, then $0 before too long. The carriers really don't care about the initial sale of the phone... what they care about is getting your monthly service check, which in a few months quickly makes up for anything they lost on the hardware. Meanwhile they've got you for 2 years and probably longer.

Most initial hardware prices are simply an "early-adopter tax" for the impatient. The carrier just calculates when to drop it based on a balance of profit verses sale quantities and market penetration. If a carrier decides they want to electrify adoption and penetration of a certain device, they'll drop the price down almost immediately just for fun.

This is not news and not new. If you wanted the phone for $50 or $0, you knew before it was even released all you had to do was be patient for a bit. Even iPhones drop eventually... just not as fast because Apple knows they have the benefit of cult-mentality and can milk that for all it's worth, with people gladly paying $200 years later for hardware specs other carriers give away just so they can have the privilege to brag about owning an "iPhone".

 

[baddress]

I got mine for free and they paid me another $175 to keep it.

 

[myrv]

One thing that also helps keep the price of the iPhone line high is that they do not discount the iPhone until they are releasing or about to release the next version. I honestly like that type of product lifecycle as it lets you keep the best of a product line and not have to upgrade but once every year. With Android phones, even though the operating system is a lot more free, you have so many manufacturers making new phones constantly that it is like the Windows world of personal computers. Every two or three months you have an upgrade to the hardware that is running Android. Not saying this is bad, just makes it harder on a technophile like me who isn't rich enough to just buy it off contract constantly