subsidies

Carriers Willing to Live With High iPhone Subsidies for Now

John Paczkowski in Mobile on May 21 at 5:00 am PT

If there’s a handset subsidy battle to be fought, it probably won’t happen until after the debut of the LTE iPhone.

Amazon’s Key to Beating Groupon in the Daily Deals Space Is Its 164 Million Paying Customers

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on March 19 at 11:30 pm PT

Amazon’s online catalog offers millions of everyday items for sale, but how many consumers think of visiting Amazon to buy a meal in a restaurant or a haircut at the local salon?

Voices

Wind Power Hits a Trough

Jeffrey Ball, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on April 4, 2011 at 4:04 pm PT

After years of blustery growth, wind power is facing a blow-back in some of its major markets. It is reeling from lackluster electricity demand in many mature economies, rock-bottom prices for competing natural gas in the U.S. and uncertainty throughout much of the world about government subsidies. Companies that make wind turbines are slashing production at some plants and reconsidering previous expansion.

Voices

Apple Works on Line of Less-Expensive iPhones

Yukari Iwatani Kane and Ethan Smith, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on February 13, 2011 at 9:00 am PT

Apple Inc. is working on the first of a new line of iPhones and an overhaul of software services for the devices, people familiar with the matter said, moving to accelerate sales of its smartphones amid growing competition.

Guess What? Apple Now Takes in More for Each iPhone Than for iPad

Ina Fried in Mobile on January 20, 2011 at 5:30 am PT

Because of subsidies, consumers pay far less for the iPhone than for the iPad. However, in terms of what Apple gets in revenue, these days it actually makes slightly more for the average iPhone than it does for the larger iPad. Mobilized takes a look at the numbers.

Apple’s Tablet: A $2.8 Billion Business?

John Paczkowski in Mobile on January 25, 2010 at 5:20 am PT

We’re still a few days away from the presumed unveiling of Apple’s mythical tablet computer and already, analysts are trying to divine the impact the new device will have on the company’s bottom line. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky expects Apple to sell five million tablets in the product’s first year at market.

Is Verizon’s New Early-Termination Fee Anti-Consumer?

John Paczkowski in News on November 6, 2009 at 11:06 am PT

Beginning Nov. 15, Verizon subscribers looking to get out of their smart-phone contracts early will pay $350 for the privilege. That early-termination fee is double the current one, but Verizon insists it’s justified because of the higher prices of today’s phones. An interesting move for a carrier that just last year agreed to pay $21 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by California consumers over the very early-termination fees it is now increasing.