The cell phone market in South Africa is a strange beast, and even more so the smartphone market. Yes, there are many types of phones being sold – different form factors, different price points, and different manufacturers – but what people see most of the time is only what the large telecoms companies advertise to you.

The fact of the matter is there are pros and cons to getting a two year over paying for a device outright in cash. In our market it is mostly the cheaper devices, or feature phones, that get sold in cash to customers at prices below R1000 and they can then do with it as they please. They are then free to choose the best prepaid plan for themselves, according to the best prices they can find in their area. Most people don’t even consider about doing this with the latest and greatest smartphones, opting for the two year contract instead of forking out a bit more upfront. But why should that be?

In some cases, it is completely warranted. The cash price for most smartphones if bought from a major telecoms company can be exuberantly high. They then make the actual price of the device much cheaper if paid over a two year period on a monthly basis, and make their money of the actual call contract you are taking with the device. For example, an R8000 smartphone from carriers will more than likely only cost you around R150 p/m for the device, which equates to a total cost of R3600 over two years. You can then easily pay up to R499 for a decent contract, of which most goes toward paying the calls, data etc.

But what if that wasn’t the case?

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