Samsung takes pre-orders for the Galaxy S22 pre-launch
As we near the end of January, new information is surfacing regarding Samsung’s much-awaited Galaxy S upgrade. Samsung, last week, teased the community with an official video blog that confirms the upcoming debut of the new Galaxy S lineup (which we will refer to as the S22 as the official naming convention has yet to be announced) and has begun encouraging fans to “pre-order” the phone without sharing any technical spec or pricing information. Though Samsung covertly expressed that the new Galaxy phone will be “noteworthy”, which could be a hint to the top-of-the-line Ultra version filling in the shoes of the Galaxy Note franchise. The (unofficial) leaked images of the Galaxy Ultra variant strongly suggest that the discontinued Galaxy Note franchise will live vicariously through the Galaxy S series going forward. Other leaked information suggests that the new Galaxy S22 series will be priced with a $100 premium over the S21 predecessor. Incidentally, Samsung pledges to offer fans preordering the new S22 a $50 credit, which can be used towards an accessory purchase.
The NPD Take:
- Samsung’s alleged price hike on the new S22 series is comprehendible given the rising component and logistics costs and should have a marginal impact on sales performance thanks to carriers’ (and Samsung DTC’s) extended financing programs providing up to 36-month installments.
- While the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold line may be the best-suited replacement/upgrade to the discontinued Note franchise, durability concerns and cost limit its potential to convince the current Note base for an upgrade. The “noteworthy” S22 Ultra will be a more logical and affordable option for Note users.
T-Mobile: Netflix is (still) on us
When Netflix recently announced its service price hikes, the immediate question in the minds of T-Mobile postpaid customers was whether this would impact their subsidized subscription to the popular streaming service via their carrier or not. T-Mobile last week announced that customers on the qualifying plans will continue to enjoy free access to Netflix depending on their plan structure and that only those customers who are on the ONE plan, as well as those who have upgraded their Netflix service subscription to an upper tier (i.e. from Basic to Standard or Premium, or Standard to Premium), will be seeing an incremental increase in the amount of Netflix’s hikes in their bills.
The NPD Take:
- While network coverage/quality and service price continues to be the top drivers impacting satisfaction (and therefore churn when dissatisfaction rates are high), content bundles and free streaming service subscriptions are gaining in importance as satisfaction drivers. Not having access to free content subscription is the third top dissatisfaction driver (13%) behind high service cost (16%) and low cellular data speeds (also 16%).
AT&T and Verizon light up C-Band with concessions
The chaos that has started with U.S. airliners’ flight safety-related objections to AT&T and Verizon’s deployment of their C-Band spectrum 5G networks has somewhat come to an end, with both carriers agreeing to omit buildouts within a two-mile radius from the major airport runways. The chaos began with FAA’s claims that the network deployment at this spectrum would interfere with some airplanes' radio altimeters, and thus adversely impact flight safety. This concession will limit AT&T and Verizon in reaching the previously announced 5G coverage commitments; Verizon originally committed to covering 100 million people with its C-band 5G network launch, and this two-mile radius will reduce this target to 2 million. You can read more about this chaotic ordeal in Eddie Hold’s latest blog “Flying Too Close to the Sun”.
The NPD Take:
- AT&T and Verizon’s concession in bypassing the airports for their C-band spectrum 5G launch is certainly a huge win for T-Mobile, which has impressively executed its 5G strategy based on the acquired assets from Sprint.
- “Last-minute content download in seconds right before the plane takes off” has been a carrier-favorite 5G marketing scenario since the early days of 5G. AT&T and Verizon will need to be careful when using this marketing claim until the issue is fully resolved.