Carriers and Apple go on Black Friday race for sales

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Carriers and Apple go on Black Friday race for sales

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 28 November, 2008

READ MORE: Apple

The downturn year of 2009 is likely to shake up the handset sector, and early indicators will be seen in the important holiday buying season, kicked off this week by the US' post-Thanksgiving 'Black Friday', a major shopping day that will feature more aggressive moves than ever to lure customers.

Star turns are at the sophisticated, multimedia or business end of the market, though helped by aggressive operator deals - the RIM BlackBerry Storm and Samsung Omnia at Verizon; the HTC Touch Pro at Verizon and Sprint; the continuing impact of the iPhone at AT&T and the emergence of the T-Mobile G1.

Some of the eye catching carrier deals Stateside included one from T-Mobile, offering the Motorola ZN5 for free after a $100 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract, for this weekend only. This is a smart move, because the 5-megapixel ZN5 is one of the best cameraphones in the midmarket, and so has genuine differentiation, but does not directly conflict with T-Mobile's star phone, the G1.

Similar offers were seen across the US - where free (fully subsidized) handsets are less common than in Europe. AT&T has to draw a similar line between offering some unique handsets, without detracting from its iPhone flagship. It is promising two of its quick messaging phones, the Pantech Matrix and the Samsung Propel, on a buy-one-get-one-free basis - it normally sells both devices for $79.99 with a two-year contract. These simple messaging handsets are a key growth sector in the midrange to low end user base.

Carriers are increasingly having to behave just like electronics retailers like Best Buy, which traditionally go on a huge bid for customers during Thanksgiving weekend. "Black Friday has traditionally been a big day for retailers," analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis said in an interview.

Even Apple was joining in the Black Friday rush for sales, launching a one-day sale with discounts of up to 15% on Macs, iPods and possibly iPhones. Apple rarely resorts to heavy discounting, relying on the premium perception of its products.