Another area in which these new devices will impact the industry relates to pricing of the devices themselves. For device vendors, it comes back to the old issue of price elasticity versus unit sales. The Holy Grail is to find that optimal price point that maximizes both profits and unit sales. Charge too little and you debase the value of the product and lose money. Charge too much and you risk alienating buyers.
Pricing is a difficult game, equal parts voodoo and science.
In this case, the stakes are particularly high. Failing to wisely select price points will retard consumer acceptance not just of the mobile devices but also of virtually all products and services developed by the wireless industry. While that type of aggressive pricing will be hard for the bean counters to accept, it will, in the long run, help other parts of the phone vendors' business. By that, I mean vendors such as Nokia and Motorola not only make phones, they also sell wireless infrastructure products. Charging too much for the next generation of devices would be penny wise but pound foolish for these vendors since it will retard growth of wireless data as a whole.