The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition that steep Black Friday discounts on hardware, particularly the iPhone 7, surprised analysts who expect hotter-than-normal competition among wireless carriers this holiday season. The Post's Emily Jackson writes that the Big Three -- Rogers Communications, Telus and BCE -- all offered the iPhone 7 for free in stores on the shopping holiday. "We do not recall seeing in the past an iPhone model discounted to $0 in the same year of its launch," Barclays analyst Phillip Huang said in a note to clients. The iPhone 7 deal was not widely advertised. Older iPhone models were also offered for free with up to $150 in gifts thrown in by retailers such as Best Buy and Wireless Wave, and the Google Pixel and Samsung S7 were also priced at zero across the Big Three. Promotional activity was higher than the same period last year. The deals have since disappeared, although Mr. Huang expects they will be back by Christmas and throughout the week between Boxing Day and New Year's Day. The promos come as wireless players increasingly need to spend more to get customers to sign up amid a high exchange rate and the high cost of devices like the iPhone 7.