As the number of wireless carriers and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) shrink in the US, companies are trying to increase revenue and phone sales and retain and poach customers. For this, smartphone deals are increasing in importance for consumers, found GlobalData.
According to the leading data and analytics company’s latest report, ‘Smartphone Promotions: US Market – Q1 2022,’ US wireless operators were aggressively pushing new smartphone deals in Q1 2022 with each of the major carriers, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, launching approximately 460 deals for postpaid customers. Out of these deals, promotions related to 5G dominated the landscape, as over 80% of new major postpaid promos revolved around 5G phones.
This was an almost 40% increase over Q4 2021 indicating that 5G phones are seen as poaching bait, even at the prepaid level and will continue to rise in importance for prepaid carriers over the coming year as more affordable models become available.
Anisha Bhatia, Senior Analyst for Consumer Services, Platforms and Devices at GlobalData, comments: “Preorder promos on the Samsung Galaxy S22 series and iPhone SE 2022 accounted for nearly 30% of that increase. Prepaid carriers accounted for just over 15% of all new deal launches, down from 30% last quarter, which is not unusual, as Q1 in general is traditionally slower in prepaid coming out of the holiday season.”
Trade offers dominated the promotional market at all three of the major carriers during the first three months of the year. There were 2,423 promotions active in Q1 2022 with 2,056 of those being launched in Q1 2022. Active promos include new launches from Q1 2022, as well as promos that remained active from previous quarters.
Nicole Teasley Senior Analyst for Consumer Services, Platforms and Devices at GlobalData, comments: “Currently, promo options remain limited for customers who are unable to trade in a device, so carriers need to offer more deals for customers who don’t have a trade-in. Additionally, all US carriers should add or promote buy-one, get-one (BOGO) deals to target new line adds during the current ‘Dads and Grads’ promotional period. Furthermore, as major postpaid carriers add premium plan requirements to promotions and increase legacy plan pricing, prepaid brands should highlight the long-term value in lower monthly plan costs.”
