Rolando Alamilla, research manager at The Ciu consultancy, comments that AT&T was the operator that detected this need early, for which it was the only operator that did not see its revenue per equipment affected. “Mexicans are using any amount of financing and AT&T has a strategy to lengthen the periods or give a cash payment and the rest you continue to finance and this gives the user flexibility and this is attracting them,” says Alamilla.
Operators are trying to counteract this phenomenon with financing and promotions that encourage users to renew their equipment. “We discovered that users require more flexible plans, rather than plans with fixed terms,” says Daniel Ríos, deputy vice president of External Affairs and Sustainability of AT&T Mexico.
AT&T told Expansión in an email that users currently prefer a term of 24 months to purchase a smartphone. For this reason, the company now offers different options to acquire a new telephone equipment that goes from 24 to 36 months to pay off the device, accompanied by a plan that each user can design.
Additionally, AT&T developed another scheme that allows the customer to purchase the cell phone with deferred charges and free months of service. “By paying eight months of service they get 12; while paying off 11 months they get 18 months; by covering 15 months they get 24”, detailed the company.
Jesús Romo, director of the Telconomy consultancy, explains that consumers are currently prioritizing the added value associated with their rental plan or recharge, such as points for the purchase of a product or earning gigabytes for recharging that some Virtual Mobile Operators grant. . “Now users are having to moderate their consumption of services. They are looking for a plan that gives them some benefit,” says Romo.
Industry analysts agree that sales by equipment of telecommunications operators, such as Telcel, AT&T and Telefónica will continue to be affected during the second quarter of this year due to changes in consumption habits due to the persistence of inflation.
“In general, an inflationary effect affects all products, since it is more expensive to produce. As long as inflation continues at high levels, it will continue to affect prices and the economy of households. Now they prioritize other things (such as food) before purchasing of a cell phone,” says Erick de la Cruz, manager of analysis at the consulting firm Select.