Interesting Smartphone factoid

Michael Gartenberg | May 02, 2007, 02:00 PM

I've now heard from two different folks that a popular smartphone in US is sold quite often *without* a data plan. The number differed by source but both were in the double digit percentages. I find that fascinating. I remember when Windows 95 launched and I had reports of consumers who bought the upgrade CD and didn't have a computer that there was real marketing going on. After all, if you can get folks to buy an OS without a CPU to run it on, that's better than selling sand in the desert. Or so I thought. Seems like selling a smartphone to someone who wants the phone but doesn't want the data plan is a pretty strong case for the importance of cachet and design marketing as well.