Christmas is actually a quiet time in terms of contract mobile phone sales as most customers have their eyes on purchases other than new mobile contracts. The exception to that is prey paid / pay as you go phones which can be given as gifts (contract free).
So, how do phone retailers shift units when everyone is looking at gifts rather than phone contracts?
Offer free gifts of course! For the past couple of years we have noticed more and more contract phone retailers offering free gifts with their mobile phones, and this year looks set to be the most aggressive yet in terms of free gift deals.
The most popular deals are ipods and laptops, but there are many other gifts available. One of the most popular for 2010 has been the Xbox Kinect which is this years must have gadeget, and there are even dedicated sites set up to helping you find a mobile phone with a free xbox.
Of in reality there is nothing “free” about these deals. If you choose to take up the offer of a free xbox you are going to have to trade down your handset in order to get one. For example, a contract which may include the new i-phone 4 will be available with something like a BlackBerry curve and a free Xbox Kinect. Clearly, the BlackBerry Curve is nowhere near as valuable nor desirable as the iphone, so you are still “paying” for your xbox.
That said, it really comes down to options, having the ability to choose the product you want or tailor the gift to suit your own needs. If you use a lot of minutes each month and qualify for an expensive handset, but are not actuall that intereseted in having the latest high end phones, then why not trade that off and get an extra Christmas present out of the way?