Now this is an interesting twist for RIM. BlackBerry devices are usually a pretty expensive investment and don’t lend themselves to pre-paid accounts like the sidekick. Turns out that RIM’s test of a pre-paid service in Indonesia went well and they are thinking of rolling it out elsewhere.
The BoyGenius scored some insider slides showing what RIM is considering for a pre-paid device. They are thinking about targeting people who are on a limited budget and cannot get credit from their carrier. They also want to catch the segment that just does not want to sign a contract and share their personal information (terrorists & drug dealers???).
They have two ideas of how to pull this off. One would be a regular pre-paid model where you buy the device retail and purchase cards for service. The second is more of a pre-paid contract where you pay upfront for the device and one year of BIS service… Who knows it might work but I can only imagine the costs. Think about it now $500 retail for the device plus $30 a month for a year equals a $860 box!!! I don’t know that many low income users who would be able to afford that…
NOTE: I highly recommend checking out the slide gallery. Not for information but rather because some of these slides are just downright funny! Such as RIM’s image of immigrant workers and them putting “poor people” in quotes…
via BoyGenius Report
Luciano ES ( View Profile) - Posts: