Comments on: The Benefits of a Subscription Service http://blog.telenav.com/blog/2009/05/the-benefits-of-a-subscription-service/ Candid conversations about using GPS and wireless technology for work and fun. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:52:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: cindy http://blog.telenav.com/blog/2009/05/the-benefits-of-a-subscription-service/comment-page-1/#comment-6662 cindy Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:20:49 +0000 http://blog.telenav.com/blog/?p=674#comment-6662 From an end user's point of view, I've had Telenav on my AT&T Samsung Blackjack 2 for a year now. I pay $9.95 per month which is included in my monthly AT&T bill. I love the app and could not function without it. About 5 months ago, I wanted the iphone so bad that I purchased it as a second line on my account, but returned it when I found out there is no voice navigation on the iphone...that's how important the app is to me. What good are gps maps when you're driving? It's got to be voice navigation. The subscription model is fine as long as current prices remain stable. Now if Apple would just get navigation on the new upcoming iphone 3. From an end user’s point of view, I’ve had Telenav on my AT&T Samsung Blackjack 2 for a year now. I pay $9.95 per month which is included in my monthly AT&T bill. I love the app and could not function without it. About 5 months ago, I wanted the iphone so bad that I purchased it as a second line on my account, but returned it when I found out there is no voice navigation on the iphone…that’s how important the app is to me. What good are gps maps when you’re driving? It’s got to be voice navigation. The subscription model is fine as long as current prices remain stable. Now if Apple would just get navigation on the new upcoming iphone 3.

]]> By: Jalan http://blog.telenav.com/blog/2009/05/the-benefits-of-a-subscription-service/comment-page-1/#comment-6465 Jalan Fri, 22 May 2009 04:39:31 +0000 http://blog.telenav.com/blog/?p=674#comment-6465 In speaking of subscription models, I was speaking more in terms of a connected PND than I was of software that runs on cell phone, which the AT&T announcement was about. The difference, of course, being the large upfront cost of the PND followed by monthly subscription fees. I haven't seen anyone nail the value proposition of the connected PND model yet. A simple $9.95 per month with no upfront fee for the cell phone software is a much different value proposition and fairly easy to justify. If I can run TeleNav on a Samsung Instinct for $9.95 per month (which I do), it significantly brings into question the value of spending several hundred dollars upfront for a connected PND. Take the monthly connected fee of the PND and rebrand it as a quarterly online map/POI subscription update service and I think it sits much better with consumers. Of course, you still have to get over the hurdle of justifying the initial upfront cost of the connected PND (harder to do when touch screen phones are starting to approach a PND's size). In speaking of subscription models, I was speaking more in terms of a connected PND than I was of software that runs on cell phone, which the AT&T announcement was about. The difference, of course, being the large upfront cost of the PND followed by monthly subscription fees. I haven’t seen anyone nail the value proposition of the connected PND model yet. A simple $9.95 per month with no upfront fee for the cell phone software is a much different value proposition and fairly easy to justify. If I can run TeleNav on a Samsung Instinct for $9.95 per month (which I do), it significantly brings into question the value of spending several hundred dollars upfront for a connected PND.

Take the monthly connected fee of the PND and rebrand it as a quarterly online map/POI subscription update service and I think it sits much better with consumers. Of course, you still have to get over the hurdle of justifying the initial upfront cost of the connected PND (harder to do when touch screen phones are starting to approach a PND’s size).

]]> By: Todd Witkemper http://blog.telenav.com/blog/2009/05/the-benefits-of-a-subscription-service/comment-page-1/#comment-6378 Todd Witkemper Tue, 19 May 2009 16:50:23 +0000 http://blog.telenav.com/blog/?p=674#comment-6378 Jalan, thanks for your continued feedback on our blog and for the insights you shared regarding subscription services. As you've noted, some of the new business models being used by companies such as Amazon for the Kindle are interesting and offer a new way to provide services to consumers. You can be assured that we are continually focused on providing the best options for our users in terms of product features and our subscription model. We feel that our current subscription model is appealing to many users, as evidenced by AT&T's recent announcement that AT&T Navigator (powered by TeleNav) was the company's top selling app in Q1. Jalan, thanks for your continued feedback on our blog and for the insights you shared regarding subscription services. As you’ve noted, some of the new business models being used by companies such as Amazon for the Kindle are interesting and offer a new way to provide services to consumers. You can be assured that we are continually focused on providing the best options for our users in terms of product features and our subscription model. We feel that our current subscription model is appealing to many users, as evidenced by AT&T’s recent announcement that AT&T Navigator (powered by TeleNav) was the company’s top selling app in Q1.

]]> By: Jalan http://blog.telenav.com/blog/2009/05/the-benefits-of-a-subscription-service/comment-page-1/#comment-6337 Jalan Tue, 19 May 2009 02:59:59 +0000 http://blog.telenav.com/blog/?p=674#comment-6337 While I don't disagree with anything written above, in my opinion, every PND manufacturer that has gone down this road (or started to) has marketed this wrong. I believe that consumers have a very weak appetite for the cost of connected services. They like the features but not the cost. Whether it is Dash or more conventional MSN Direct, the subscription cost is hard to shallow. People were intrigued by Inrix and other higher bandwidth advanced traffic solutions and were willing to pay more for that for awhile. But over time, commentary I read suggests that people are realizing that these higher bandwidth advanced solutions are only incrementally better than regular old FM-TMC traffic and not worth much per month in terms of a subscription cost. Amazon has marketed the Kindle in a genius way. They sell the connected features of the Kindle but don't sell the connectivity itself. In other words, the customer gets a piece of connected hardware, but never sees a subscription cost. Part of the subscription cost is embedded in the cost of the hardware. They rest is paid for incrementally over time when they buy new books. They use a CDMA network that is transparent to the user and never costs the user a dime. Customer ARE willing to spend money on map updates. They've done it every year for years. I believe that PND manufacturers need to focus the marketing of their subscription services on the map / POI updates and not the connected aspects of the PND. Make the connectivity disappear to the end user like the Amazon Kindle. Sell map updates like they sell electronic books. Customers will swallow the costs a lot better when they view it as a cost they are used to paying. While I don’t disagree with anything written above, in my opinion, every PND manufacturer that has gone down this road (or started to) has marketed this wrong. I believe that consumers have a very weak appetite for the cost of connected services. They like the features but not the cost. Whether it is Dash or more conventional MSN Direct, the subscription cost is hard to shallow. People were intrigued by Inrix and other higher bandwidth advanced traffic solutions and were willing to pay more for that for awhile. But over time, commentary I read suggests that people are realizing that these higher bandwidth advanced solutions are only incrementally better than regular old FM-TMC traffic and not worth much per month in terms of a subscription cost.

Amazon has marketed the Kindle in a genius way. They sell the connected features of the Kindle but don’t sell the connectivity itself. In other words, the customer gets a piece of connected hardware, but never sees a subscription cost. Part of the subscription cost is embedded in the cost of the hardware. They rest is paid for incrementally over time when they buy new books. They use a CDMA network that is transparent to the user and never costs the user a dime.

Customer ARE willing to spend money on map updates. They’ve done it every year for years. I believe that PND manufacturers need to focus the marketing of their subscription services on the map / POI updates and not the connected aspects of the PND. Make the connectivity disappear to the end user like the Amazon Kindle. Sell map updates like they sell electronic books. Customers will swallow the costs a lot better when they view it as a cost they are used to paying.

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