There’s an article on NYT’s Bits blog about the state of prepaid phone plans in the US:
Prepaid phone plans, where you pay the full price for a cellphone and then pay lower monthly rates without a contract, seem to offer what most budget-conscious people want. So why haven’t they really caught on?
After reading this article, the first thing that came to mind was, “this is totally opposite here in the Philippines” at least for now.
Here’s why the average Filipino stick to prepaid:
- the retail mindset
- average Filipino income can’t possibly cover everything, much less a postpaid plan
- networks doesn’t advertise postpaid plans that much (until now)
- the availability of super-affordable phones
- cheap call & text rates
And here’s why the average Filipino will move to postpaid:
- the chance to own a phone at half or even a quarter of the original price may just be too good to pass up
- the pressure of not being “in” with the new aka the buy-what’s-new mentality
- advertising that doesn’t tell it all
- the average Filipino income is growing (which is a good thing, unless they spend it all on phones)
For the same reasons mentioned on the article, people are slowly moving towards postpaid plans now. The proliferation of iPhones and S3s and Notes are a testament to that.
Blinded by the false sense of affordability, of being “in” with the latest, and the overall consumerist mentality, its only a matter of time before the majority of Filipinos switch to postpaid plans. Were living in an iPhone economy after all. Steve would be proud.
Then again, I might be wrong. But so long as there are cheap phones and cheap rates out there, prepaid plans are still the king.