The commercial hook implied by the handset subsidy has been used very well by Orange in recent months after Movistar and Vodafone deviated from this strategy. However, they decided to get it back temporary.
The big operators want to grow again by promoting the policy of terminal grant for new customers. Movistar He was the first to announce that he would no longer follow this strategy since March given the high costs it generated, opting for financing and installment payment as the new formula. vodafone It didn’t take long for him to follow in his footsteps weeks later, focusing on enforcing that policy. only to your subscribers.
The situation was mainly used by Orange to increase its customer base. The company preferred to continue on this path while Yoigo gave a boost to its installment payment instead of subsidies for new users, even though it quickly opened the door to this policy in low-end terminals a few months ago.
However, the step taken by Movistar and Vodafone does not seem definitive and also exceptionally they seem to resume the equipment subsidies. “There are streaks where you can afford to stop giving phones and streaks you can’t. We’ll use the tactic as part of our commercial strategy“, Explain Francisco Román, president of Vodafone Spain. The second operator confirmed this variation of its policy with a new promotion until September 15 in which it will help the purchase of terminals for its new users.
In the case of Movistar, we already perceived a certain openness vis-à-vis the previous policy with the subsidy of equipment to users who come from Orange. The company is thus trying to minimize the customer acquisition figures of the France Telecom subsidiary and to consolidate its leading position in the mobile telephony market. We will have to see if this strategy is extended to users who come from other companies in the coming months, in view of the launch of the expected iphone 5 and the Christmas period.
On the other hand, it should be noted that the payment in installments terminals is starting to take off in our country, as confirmed by Yoigo. The fourth Spanish operator confirmed this after announcing the sales figures for the Samsung Galaxy S3, which was acquired by the majority of its new users with this formula during the month of July.