Quote Originally Posted by CaptainRaiden
I think a large portion of Android customers have always been the gadget minded enthusiasts you speak of. Besides, lack of advertisements is also one factor that helps them keep the handset cost down. This was especially true in the case of the Nexus 4. Almost next to no advertisements whatsoever, and they still sold out. But yeah, the one thing that always hurt Android flagships is lack of good advertising, which is exactly where Apple is ace.
It might well be a large proportion but its certainly not the majority of consumers in the UK. You'll find most of the larger retailers push the sub £100 handsets here as they often offer the better contract deals too. Cheaper handset, more minutes, texts and data. The flagship handsets also sell well here and apparently the best in Europe. I know quite a few people who own top end Android devices but don't get anywhere near as involved with the software as you guys here. I don't know if I could agree enthusiasts take up a larger percentage or not. We can only really base this sort of thing on personal experience and it'll be different from person to person.

I can offer an explanation as to why the Nexus 4 sold out and so quickly. Again its a UK reference, and sold out in a day here. The reason being they initially only shipped 250,000 units. That is not a huge amount really. The demand grew once they sold out and delayed shipping on batch 2 meant they then reached a million sales by the second release. I agree it was impressive for a model that was badly advertised and gained momentum via viral advertising mainly. I think Nexus were as guilty as previous manufacturers when it came to hyping sales figures and marketing the fact they sold out. Still it was a great handset for a very cheap price.

Quote Originally Posted by CaptainRaiden
I will let you in on a secret, although I'm sure you know this already. My ex told me the inner workings of the sales department at 3, and I'm sure the same works for Vodafone and Orange too. They already have a crazy markup on top of the set basic contract rate. If the customer buys it at the advertised rate, then a huge payday for them, but if not, they will easily reduce the handset cost or the monthly rental to an acceptable limit during the haggling as long as the customer thinks they are winning and getting a bargain, but as it reaches close to their acceptable set marker, they will simply refuse to go down any further, no matter how much you haggle. In fact, even if they give you the handset for free at a 25 euro monthly contract, they're still making loads of money off of you. Anything on top of that is a bonus for them. It's never a loss for them, always a win. The salesperson who sweet talks you into anything over the set rate then gets a bonus. The more you pay, the higher their bonus.

Mind you, the existing customer who gets haggling privileges has to have some prerequisites fulfilled. All their data is in the CRM module, and it depends on if you were on a higher contract and if you've been a good payer, not missing a single payment before. If the company thinks they've already made enough money off of you, they don't mind giving you a nice little discount.

Like I said, I'm sure you knew this already, but this is how these corporate SOBs operate. But at least you have the luxury of haggling in the US and UK. Most of the other places there's usually a monopoly, and they just charge absurd rates for similar contracts.
Yeah I was aware of that. A friend of mine was quite high up in finance at the Vodafone head-quarters in Banbury until a few years ago and he divulged many of the inner workings to me. I know when I negotiate a contract that there is a threshold they are willing to drop to and still make a profit. You have the luxury here of being able to tell salespeople you will try elsewhere and it usually forces them to 'see what they can do' lol. Also here the mobile companies have points systems to use if you remain a customer for your next upgrade etc. I always have the mindset where I decide what handset I want, the price I want to pay, and then I find several sales departments to haggle amongst. The closest to the price gets my money. You can upgrade here as you're aware through quite a few outlets and usually its cheaper to do that than upgrade directly through the carrier, in my case O2. I'm aware though I walk away with the price I want to pay, but know full well they have still made a profit. If no party is happy, everybody loses.