Who needs flash when you can have cash in the bank? Especially these days. I like the new functionality but hate the idea of spending so much for it. From The Guardian:
Mobile phone users are holding on to their handsets and "trading down" to cheaper deals, or opting for a top-of-the-range device such as Apple's iPhone or the BlackBerry Storm, according to the world's largest mobile phone company, Vodafone.
This polarisation in the more mature markets of Europe and the US was apparent in figures yesterday from the US handset maker Motorola, which saw sales halve in the run-up to Christmas.
The company, known for making so-called midrange handsets, dropped to a $3.6bn loss for the final quarter of 2008, creating doubts over a planned demerger of its handset operation from the rest of the company.
Last month Nokia, which makes four of every 10 phones sold, shocked investors by predicting its global handset sales would fall 10% this year - twice the decrease it forecast less than two months earlier - as consumers hold on to their phones.
Speaking as Vodafone increased its annual revenue forecasts because of the weakness of the pound against the euro and dollar, the chief executive, Vittorio Colao, said: "At the end of the day, it is clear that people are either getting devices that have functionality that really adds something to their life - making their life better, more enjoyable or more productive - or they are going for a cheaper type of deal.
"Some people, instead of staying on the same package and getting a better phone, are deciding to go for a cheaper package and not changing their phone."
