Black Friday arrives early at AT&T
AT&T launched a major device promotion last week targeting new customers as well as existing clients. The carrier’s early Black Friday promotions include a free Samsung Galaxy S21 5G or Galaxy Z Flip3 5G with a qualified trade-in. AT&T is also offering up to an $800 discount on the new Google Pixel 6 Pro or the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G, again with a qualified trade-in. The carrier has also announced that it will offer a 50% discount on the Google Pixel 6 without any trade-in requirements beginning November 19. Other new offers to begin on the same day are a 50% discount on the Lenovo 300e Chromebook and free Wi-Fi hotspot service offered with new data lines/plans. AT&T also announced a slew of phone discounts activated on its AT&T Prepaid and Cricket Wireless brands.
The NPD Take:
- AT&T changed the device promotional landscape when it extended its full switcher discounts to its existing user base with the debut of last year’s iPhone 12. While T-Mobile and Verizon followed suit, AT&T still stands out as, unlike its rivals, it does not require users to upgrade to the top-tier unlimited plan for promo qualification. While these aggressive promotions adversely impact the bottom line, they have allowed AT&T to lead the market in churn and new subscriber performances.
- It’s important to highlight that over two-thirds of AT&T’s postpaid customers are on an Apple iPhone, while the early Black Friday promotional campaign does not feature a single new iPhone promotion. This is not surprising that the carrier has already been running heavy promotions on the new iPhone 13 models, and there is little sense in getting more aggressive at a time when supply is scarce.
T-Mobile joins forces with Qualcomm for 5G AR glasses
T-Mobile last week formed a new partnership with Qualcomm to be the network enabler (or the 5G launch partner as the carrier calls it) of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform in North America. The new program is designed to build standalone and/or smartphone-complementary AR glass solutions and T-Mobile will support the initiative with its T-Mobile Accelerator, which will assist startups and developers who will create immersive 5G experiences using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform. Notably, Lenovo, Motorola, OPPO, and Xiaomi are the first group of device makers to commit to building hardware solutions on the Snapdragon Spaces program.
The NPD Take:
- There is a lot to get excited about the new Snapdragon Spaces program as it promises to bring immersive experiences that will take advantage of 5G networks’ high-speed capacities. The upcoming end-user hardware will give all the ecosystem players the much-needed ammunition to market the benefits of 5G networks.