Mobility Week in Review

Report Type: 
Week In Review
Overview

Verizon pulls the plug on Yahoo Mobile

Yahoo Mobile has begun reaching out clients to inform that the Yahoo Mobile service will be shut off by August 31. The MVNO is encouraging customers to switch service to Visible, another Verizon digital MVNO, which has been the supplier of Yahoo Mobile’s back-end operations. In early May, Verizon announced the sale of its Verizon Media Business, including the AOL and Yahoo assets that the carrier acquired back in 2015 and 2017, respectively. The new buyer, Apollo Global Management, paid the carrier $5 billion in return for 90% stake in the new company, leaving Verizon with just 10%. At the time, the companies did not provide any details on the future of Yahoo Mobile, Verizon’s digital MVNO brand launched a little over a year ago.

The NPD Take:

  • Verizon and Apollo Global’s decision to pull the plug on the Yahoo Mobile service was expected given the MVNO’s limited brand marketing. Verizon’s other digital MVNO, Visible, is much more active in marketing, but enjoying high recognition levels will take time. According to the NPD Connected Intelligence Mobility survey conducted in February, 2.5% of U.S. smartphone owners were aware of the Visible brand, while the soon-to-sunset Yahoo Mobile brand enjoyed a higher recognition rate (4%) thanks to the familiarity of the Yahoo brand.

5G MSRPs pushing down the $200 mark

OnePlus last week announced the spec and pricing details of its upgrade to the Nord series, which was a hot seller in the prepaid market during the holiday season (thanks to Metro’s free offer for switchers). The new OnePlus Nord 200, likes its predecessor Nord 10 5G, is 5G-powered via the built-in Snapdragon 480 chipset, Qualcomm’s 5G solution for the affordable device segment. The phone will have a 6.5-inch full-HD display with 90 Hz refresh rate, a 5,000 mAh battery and support for 18W fast charging. The new Nord 200 will hit T-Mobile and Metro shelves beginning June 25. T-Mobile’s version will have a $216 MSRP, while the Metro version will be offered for $230. Existing Metro customers will be able to purchase the phone for $60, while new comers from other operators will get their hands on the new Nord 200 5G for free.

The NPD Take:

  • OnePlus’ ability to reduce the MSRP from $299 (on the predecessor N10 5G) to $216 on the new Nord is impressive considering the chipset and component supply problems pushing device BOM costs upwards. This price drop was likely achieved via the new Snapdragon 480 chipset, which may be a tier down from the N10 5G’s Snapdragon 690 chip, but for most consumers, the difference in performance will not noticeable.
  • The Nord 10 5G was one of the top selling Metro phones during the holiday season, and we would expect the new Nord 200 to enjoy a similar performance as it wil be subject to Metro’s free device promotion for switchers.

 

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