iPhone Users Spend The Most For Monthly Carrier Bills

AllThingsD reports on a new research from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners showing that iPhone users on average spend the most for monthly carrier bills. The research company polled smartphone users in the period from October to December 2012 and found that 59% of iOS users spend more than $100 per month.

Ten percent of these iPhone users spend over $200 per month. That is compared to 7 percent of Android users who spend more than $200 per month (53% spend over $100). According to the research firm, iPhone owners spend more money not because of their usage habits, but because of more expensive data plans offered by carriers due to higher subsidies on iPhones. T-Mobile hopes to change this situation by offering monthly installment plans instead of subsidies and other major carriers in U.S. are also very intrigued with the strategy.

“Given the subsidies on iPhones, the carriers are working hard to make their money back during the course of the contract,” said CIRP’s Josh Levitz. “With the exception of perhaps the hottest Android phones, we think the subsidies on Android phones are lower, so the carriers make more money even with slightly lower per-subscriber revenue.”