Growth of prepaid smartphone plans threaten Apple

Investors and analysts have fretted that Apple's focus on selling pricey, heavily subsidized phones will hurt it in developing countries such as China and India, where unsubsidized phones and prepaid plans predominate. But few have paid attention to how the company is being hurt by the shift to prepaid plans closer to home. "There's no question that (Apple's) missing out," said Weston Henderek, a principal analyst at Current Analysis, a technology market research firm. "They're essentially ceding that market to Android."

Apple threatened by growth of prepaid smartphone plans - SiliconValley.com: "Although prepaid accounts still represent less than a quarter of all wireless service plans in the United States, they're gaining ground rapidly. Half of all new wireless accounts added between 2008 and last year were prepaid ones."

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