Thin margins in mobile broadband too

Yesterday I cautioned entrepreneurs to beware of thin margins for smart devices. Of course, the margins need not be thin if you can get someone else, say AT&T wireless, to bear much of the sales, marketing, and support expense. A short comment by Graham Lawler in today’s NY Times Business Section lets the helium out of that dirigible.

Regarding AT&T’s Q4 results, Lawler opines that “Network usage increased 200 per cent but wireless data revenue increased only 26 per cent. Seems like great evidence of declining margins in mobile broadband.”