Breaking Down Smartphone Costs

We all see the commercials and the ads for smartphones with prices at a few hundred dollars or less, but what is not shown in the ads are the true costs. To get the phone at the low price in the ad you usually have to sign a two year contract, over the course of which you pay a monthly bill for voice and data service. The actual cost of the new smartphone is the total of what you pay for the phone plus the services you pay for two years.