Database Users

Samsung Vibrant to only cost $330 OFF CONTRACT?

Its seems that the fine folks at phandroid have stumbled across this little nugget of info tucked neatly away in the fine print of the Samsung Vibrant's shop page.
†On approved credit. $82.50 down payment, plus 3 monthly payments of $82.50, required. 0% APR. Taxes & fees additional. Available only at T-Mobile-owned retail stores; see store for details.
phandroid.com/2010/06/30/samsung-vibrant-to-cost-330-off-contract-galaxy-s-fine-print/
If u do the math that equates to $330. I hope T-Mobile plays it smart and doesn't change the price before launch, because I definitely assumed the off contract price would be $450-$550
In any event, there also seems to be a "REAL" screen cap of the actual price tag on the page before TMO decided to remove it. Here's the link to that also...
androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s/112106-no-secret-vibrant-full-price-329-99-a.html#post1041189
DO RIGHT BY US LOYAL, DOWNTRODDEN CUSTOMERS TMO!!

ShawtyKING said:
Its seems that the fine folks at phandroid have stumbled across this little nugget of info tucked neatly away in the fine print of the Samsung Vibrant's shop page.
†On approved credit. $82.50 down payment, plus 3 monthly payments of $82.50, required. 0% APR. Taxes & fees additional. Available only at T-Mobile-owned retail stores; see store for details.
phandroid.com/2010/06/30/samsung-vibrant-to-cost-330-off-contract-galaxy-s-fine-print/
If u do the math that equates to $330. I hope T-Mobile plays it smart and doesn't change the price before launch, because I definitely assumed the off contract price would be $450-$550
In any event, there also seems to be a "REAL" screen cap of the actual price tag on the page before TMO decided to remove it. Here's the link to that also...
androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s/112106-no-secret-vibrant-full-price-329-99-a.html#post1041189
DO RIGHT BY US LOYAL, DOWNTRODDEN CUSTOMERS TMO!!
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Jesus Christ. Do you seriously think that the Nexus One retails for $529 but THIS phone - which is better in every.single.way is going to retail for $330?
That's quite literally one of the stupidest things I think i've read in a long, long time.

Personally, Im pretty sure the phone is going to cost $500+ because the on contract price vs. this supposed on contract price doesn't make sense and this also bucks the trend of previous costs associated with phones of this level.
However, it would be a nice (and courageous) move on TMO's part with this slightly, in comparison, paired down galaxy s model to move units.
Anyway, I thought I would share this sliver of hope with the TMO faithful lol.

This just reminds me of the entire "Project Dark" / EM+ debacle where some blogs reported errors/rumors as facts of an upcoming program. So when EM+ came out, the news wasn't that TMO cut their pricing, it was that they didn't live up to the hype that some bloggers posted about false pricing info.
Same damn thing now. People ARE going to be disappointed if they think that in any reality (normal or alternate) TMO is going to sell this phone for $330 without a contract to recoup the cost of the device.
also, this phone is a $750 phone unlocked:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...w?ie=UTF8&qid=1277908710&sr=8-1&condition=new

If you look at the T-mobile site now it says "125 down, with 3 monthly payments of 125" thus making the phone in the $500 range

as you said, that price has been pulled down, and curently at the bottom of the page is of the info screen (when you go to their web and shop for phones, and then for samsung phones) it shows:
"†On approved credit. $125 down payment, plus 3 monthly payments of $125, required. 0% APR. Taxes & fees additional. Available only at T-Mobile-owned retail stores; see store for details...."
others have reported off contract pricing at $439 / $439 and some at $499
we'll see this week

I was told by tmo to call on tuesday to find out the pricing of the phone

gothdroid said:
I was told by tmo to call on tuesday to find out the pricing of the phone
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Im going to try that to find out how much it cost with the Equipment Installment Plan

Store rep told me that it'd be at the lowest, similar priced to the HD2 or about 479. She said it won't go any lower than that.

reuthermonkey said:
Jesus Christ. Do you seriously think that the Nexus One retails for $529 but THIS phone - which is better in every.single.way is going to retail for $330?
That's quite literally one of the stupidest things I think i've read in a long, long time.
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The Vibrant is defiantly NOT better in every single way.
The Nexus one Has a Bluetooth car dock, No word about anything like that for the Galaxy S phones.
The Nexus One is made out of much much better materials, The vibrant feels cheap in the hand and the body looks cheap, the only thing on the Vibrant that looks better is the screen.
The Vibrant has no FLASH, How some one could make a High end Android phone without a flash is beyond me, but oh well.

siberslug said:
The Vibrant is defiantly NOT better in every single way.
The Nexus one Has a Bluetooth car dock, No word about anything like that for the Galaxy S phones.
The Nexus One is made out of much much better materials, The vibrant feels cheap in the hand and the body looks cheap, the only thing on the Vibrant that looks better is the screen.
The Vibrant has no FLASH, How some one could make a High end Android phone without a flash is beyond me, but oh well.
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looks like someones a little insecure

siberslug you mad?

Mad, No, I come off as mad ?
I'm just saying it's not better in every way, overall I think it's better in terms of hardware like the GPU, Screen and it's file sharing capabilities.
I would agree with him if the Vibrant was built from better material and had a flash, hell I would call it a Droid and EVO killer if it had a front facing camera in addition to the flash and better material but there is too much missing to call it that.
I just bought this to hold me over until project Emerald comes out in November

chaoscentral said:
looks like someones a little insecure
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LOL
You got me.
I like big Bad @$$ things to compensate for my short comings lol
A bit disappointed but no not insecure. I will still rub this phone into all the Iphone fanboys faces and be proud to do so !! even though I don't have a flash or front facing camera or an exquisite finish that I could roll around naked on

xoom only COSTS Best Buy $550!! WTF.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...ps-to-1199-99-but-it-costs-best-buy-just-550/
So this makes me think that the price will be significantly lower than $1200 or $800. If not at Best Buy, someone else who can deal with less than 40% margins will sell this thing in the $6-700 range.
F*** Best Buy and their either 45% or even more obscene 118% markups.

CNET fed Motorolas ego tremendously when they gave the Xoom best of CES award...

legato89 said:
CNET fed Motorolas ego tremendously when they gave the Xoom best of CES award...
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+1 Clearly it did...
They think they can place apple price point/margin(actually even more than apple!) without any track record to proove it... Its ridicules... They clearly want to gouge the first adopters, and a month later i can guarentee they will drop the price by 200$ (especially when ipad 2 is unveiled...)
Its a sad day that im considering and ipad 2 over xoom/other android 3.0 cause of PRICE.

$1,999 is a placeholder price.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/13/motorola-xoom-up-for-pre-order-at-best-buy-for-1-199/
Engadget said:
Update: We've heard rumblings that this is indeed just a place holder -- much like the way other companies price products they don't want to sell at ridiculous levels -- and the final price will indeed be the $800 we've heard most consistently to this point.
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Also, it isn't as if the Xoom will be the only quality Honeycomb device out there. If it cost too much for your taste, wait until cheaper 3.0 tablets arrive. Looking at the trend so far most Honeycomb tablets have almost the exact same specifications anyways.

Botero said:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...ps-to-1199-99-but-it-costs-best-buy-just-550/
So this makes me think that the price will be significantly lower than $1200 or $800. If not at Best Buy, someone else who can deal with less than 40% margins will sell this thing in the $6-700 range.
F*** Best Buy and their either 45% or even more obscene 118% markups.
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That's crazy. When I worked at Best Buy a few years back, I found little (if any) markup on almost all laptops. Apparently they've decided that the Xoom is a different story.
I'd like to think that purchasing at a Verizon store will be a different story, but I'm sure there are all kinds of deals in place to keep prices uniform across the industry. It would probably be cheaper getting one shipped from Europe.
Oh well. I'm thinking the Galaxy 10.1 looks better than the Xoom anyway, so maybe I'll stick around to see how it turns out.

Xevilious said:
That's crazy. When I worked at Best Buy a few years back, I found little (if any) markup on almost all laptops. Apparently they've decided that the Xoom is a different story.
I'd like to think that purchasing at a Verizon store will be a different story, but I'm sure there are all kinds of deals in place to keep prices uniform across the industry. It would probably be cheaper getting one shipped from Europe.
Oh well. I'm thinking the Galaxy 10.1 looks better than the Xoom anyway, so maybe I'll stick around to see how it turns out.
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The Galaxy 10.1 doesn't seem to come with a Sd card slot or even Hdmi port...yikes !

Arun01 said:
The Galaxy 10.1 doesn't seem to come with a Sd card slot or even Hdmi port...yikes !
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I hear ya there, SD card slot is a must in my mind for a tablet.
Love the design of the Tab 10.1 though, the backing looks so ergonomic.

If the xoom is locked down to modding like most other motorola stuff, the sd card won't be that big of a draw.
The markup is nuts, hence why I think you may be able to talk bestbuy into doing it out the door for 800, with the mobile service (that you can cancel).
Sent from my EVO using XDA App

Didn't motorola state the SD slot on the Xoom wont work until they patch it at a later date? or am i thinking of another CES tab?

Arun01 said:
The Galaxy 10.1 doesn't seem to come with a Sd card slot or even Hdmi port...yikes !
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Oh... I didn't realize that. Lame. It's a shame, because the device has a nice look to it.

Xevilious said:
That's crazy. When I worked at Best Buy a few years back, I found little (if any) markup on almost all laptops. Apparently they've decided that the Xoom is a different story.
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BB is probably trying to make some margin on the first few suckers (oops, customers). Expect a big price drop in a few months like the Galaxy tab.

jerrykur said:
BB is probably trying to make some margin on the first few suckers (oops, customers). Expect a big price drop in a few months like the Galaxy tab.
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You do realize a tablet like this would be price controlled by Verizon correct? Verizon controls prices of phones, just like ATT, Sprint, and Apple do.
@Xevilious : little margin is still made on laptops

Yeah god forbid companies try and make a profit on the products they make or sell

Old MuckenMire said:
Yeah god forbid companies try and make a profit on the products they make or sell
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Sirchuk said:
If the xoom is locked down to modding like most other motorola stuff, the sd card won't be that big of a draw.
The markup is nuts, hence why I think you may be able to talk bestbuy into doing it out the door for 800, with the mobile service (that you can cancel).
Sent from my EVO using XDA App
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Since when did Best Buy negotiate prices on a product like this?
Old MuckenMire said:
Yeah god forbid companies try and make a profit on the products they make or sell
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I am all for companies making money. But I must say, knowing that the device cost BB 550$.. I am no longer okay with Verizon forcing me to buy unwanted 3g for a month cranking up the already high price an unnecessary, and frankly incredibly expensive 1GB of data.

setite said:
Since when did Best Buy negotiate prices on a product like this?
I am all for companies making money. But I must say, knowing that the device cost BB 550$.. I am no longer okay with Verizon forcing me to buy unwanted 3g for a month cranking up the already high price an unnecessary, and frankly incredibly expensive 1GB of data.
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well you have to take into consideration that BB is probably not going to make a killing on this product. If they were confident that they would sell a lot of Xooms, the price would be less. They would be able to make up for it in volume.
I agree about the mandatory Verizon data but from my understanding you have three days to cancel it and get your money back for that. I myself am going to keep the months worth of data...I've always been with AT&T and am curious about Verizon's service in my area.

setite said:
Since when did Best Buy negotiate prices on a product like this?
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You might be surprised what they will do if there is still profit to be made. You can negotiate on just about all big ticket items, especially at the end of the quarter when they want to increase revenue numbers. Never hurts to ask for something like 5 or 10 percent off. Worked for me on a digital camera I wanted and a stove. They took another $200 off my stove, even beat the internet prices I found.
Sent from my EVO using XDA App

Old MuckenMire said:
well you have to take into consideration that BB is probably not going to make a killing on this product. If they were confident that they would sell a lot of Xooms, the price would be less. They would be able to make up for it in volume.
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As I said earlier pricing is controlled by Verizon
And that employee cost that you see, is not always the price that Best Buy pays for an item. Tablets that require internet activation are in an entire different realm of pricing structures (especially since this is a Verizon tablet).
Sirchuk said:
You might be surprised what they will do if there is still profit to be made. You can negotiate on just about all big ticket items, especially at the end of the quarter when they want to increase revenue numbers. Never hurts to ask for something like 5 or 10 percent off. Worked for me on a digital camera I wanted and a stove. They took another $200 off my stove, even beat the internet prices I found.
Sent from my EVO using XDA App
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Only way money is coming off the xoom is price matching verizon, which is going to be selling it at the same price

deadpixell said:
As I said earlier pricing is controlled by Verizon
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trust me, BB gives it's opinion to Verizon on what it wants to sell any given item for in their store and Verizon takes that opinion into account when pricing. BB doesn't have to carry any given device.... and Verizon or any other carrier has to work with them on price(as well as many other aspects) if Verizon wants that device in store. You can be sure Verizon's pricing would be different if they anticipated BB would sell tons more of them than they will currently.
All I am saying is this: if this tab was going to sell like the iPad, the price would be less. Verizon nor BB have the luxury of making their profit thru volume with this device.

Old MuckenMire said:
trust me, BB gives it's opinion to Verizon on what it wants to sell any given item for in their store and Verizon takes that opinion into account when pricing. BB doesn't have to carry any given device.... and Verizon or any other carrier has to work with them on price(as well as many other aspects) if Verizon wants that device in store. You can be sure Verizon's pricing would be different if they anticipated BB would sell tons more of them than they will currently.
All I am saying is this: if this tab was going to sell like the iPad, the price would be less. Verizon nor BB have the luxury of making their profit thru volume with this device.
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I know Best buy gives its opinion, but at the end of the day, its out of my hand. There are certain things like I said, that are price controlled regardless of how much Best Buy buys the item from. I'm sure Verizon also wants best buy to sell tons of xooms. During this past holiday I saw more people sold on buying tablets than laptops, sure the initial price is high, relative to what you get, but I'm sure it will come down.
And for what its worth, even though people here are complaining about the high price, this device will be extremely popular.
That being said if I see anything more in best buys system I'll try and post/make note of it

[Q] Pricing - throw in your wild speculation here

So as hawk2k8 has posted about, the Motorola site doesn't have the 'Buy Now' on their website right now (at least temporarily) and the speculation goes... it could be a price change, out of stock, or revamping the listing to add Flash and 4G info. So let's play out the price change part of it for a little fun!
My thoughts are that it seems a bit odd that they have the 3G/4G price at $800 and will put out the wifi version a full $200 below. I just can't imagine a vendor having that large of a separation between the models. And yes, I know their rep said it would be around the $600-ish mark, not debating that, just saying its a big difference for having 3G/4G. It would be an even bigger difference if the wifi sold at $539 as that 'Android 2.0 Homeycomb' sign showed.
So, what IF! What if they dropped the price of 3G to $599. Then the wifi model at $539 wouldn't sound so odd. Then maybe they give the early adopter buyers a $100 rebate so the pain of buying early wasn't so bad. Those that bought from stores like Costco would likely return it if the window was large enough and the wifi version came out during their return window. But my guess is most will be in the 14-30 day window and not return it. Or maybe Motorola will not give a rebate and just say that you paid for the experience of the XOOM as an early adopter.. who knows..
So let's stir up some fun speculation. I said FUN! Let's hear it! What's your wild speculation if they did change the price?

I'm certainly no marketing expert but I know my friends that have Apple products and those that have Android products are pretty much different when it comes to technology. Apple, its like no thinking involved, you want a movie or song plug it in and iTunes does all the work. Xoom, not so easy. Motorola/Google/Android really need something that simple. Apple, you don't think about encoding settings, and for the masses thats great. With the Xoom, there is so much confusion with "experts" trying to decide how to encode a movie; I don't use mine for movies so I don't follow it closely.
To answer your question with my two cents, if they want to compete with the iconic iPad, a great device (I have one), they need to get an iTunes like program. If they don't have that they'll never appeal to the average consumer with this type of device and will be on the fringes of the tablet market. Motorola Media Link got pretty good reviews (I never tried it with my Droid or DX) and why this isn't ready for the Xoom, Jha should hang his head in shame.
If you're shopping in Best Buy for a tablet, the ipad 2 is $600, what would it take to even consider the Xoom? I think the Xoom would have to be at least $75 south of a similar spec'd ipad to get someone that wants a tablet to take a good look at it.

So to be sure I stem the potential... I don't want this be an ipad v. xoom controversy. As they say, let's keep it to the facts m'am. Just want to hear ideas about pricing speculation. =)

@OP
I think Moto will stick to the original MSRP, at least for a while. Until April, the Xoom will still be the only HC tab in town.
Part of the high pricing is to establish brand position (i.e. Xoom "is a premium product") in consumers' mindset, and not so much about getting more money. Part of it is to protect the smartphone pricing model, given that Moto sell smartphones at ~$500 price point, and a tab is considered as "smartphone-plus", which should command $500+ pricing. If Moto/Samsung/HTC/et al sell tabs at the "laptop" pricing model, there would be considerable downward pressure on their present smartphone pricing.
For laptop vendors, eg Acer/MSI/et al, there is no such dilemma, and their HC tabs will start at around the $400 point. Asus and Dell have smartphone aspirations, and will stick with the "smartphone" pricing model.
The Apple iPad2 is the 800-lbs fly-in-the-ointment in all this. But in econ terms, the demand for either product (iPad2 or Xoom) is relatively price-inelastic, i.e. you aren't likely to buy either on the basis of pricing. Anyone who buys a Xoom at this point is an early adopter who wants to try Android's latest, and price isn't a significant factor. People who buys iPad are likely already partial to the iOS ecosystem, and at this point Apple's simply is more mature and user-friendly. So, while fodder for arguments, relative pricing is not a major factor.
@mgerbasio
Normal users don't do video transcoding, period. For that, the Xoom can be made as simple as Apple's if that's desired. All that's needed is a suitable preset. That's what the early adopters are hashing out. The same occurred for the Apple iPad.

If sales are as bad as the rumors indicate, then I would make the following decisions if I was Motorola:
1. Start a heavy marketing campaign. HEAVY-Hire an advertising firm that will blast the information about the Xoom everywhere. Spend some freaking money.
2. Sell the 3G/4G model at a $599 price point for the 3G/4G, would draw some interest.
3. Sell the WIFI version for $479.00 This $539 price we have seen is a marketing failure. Nobody prices a product at $539. This is simply a dumb, dumb move. $499.00 should be the Max price for the WIFI version.
4. Offer immediate credit to anyone who purchased the Xoom previously. Rebate?
5. Get Verizon to dump the $35, re-activation fee. That is stupid.
6. You need to make a killing on the accessories, and you can't do that without your main product selling. Selling the 3G/4G at cost isn't a bad move, and it certainly wouldn't hurt Motorola. Your not losing money at cost, your just not making any money on your main product. However, you should be making money on the WIFI version.

Why are the prices higher?

I was thinking about it and its one of 2 things imo. I think they are using the extra bucks for the future LTE expansion, building towers and whatnot. But most likely they are a bunch of grubby pricks that want to nickel and dime us
Sent from my HTC Sensation using XDA

I've read through a lot of the huge thread, and a lot of people were saying that t-mobile tends to offer the new, hip device for an outrageous cost for the first few weeks.
If you are a current customer you might have luck calling customer service and passively threatening to switch carriers. Many people here have had luck getting $200 off the phone and a few other perks. The last 10 pages of so of the big thread are full of those stories.
I bought the phone outright. The value plan I'm on is sweet- I'm saving $450 over 2 years.

Lets hope for the first and realize this phone is actually a phone that I might keep for the 2 years for a 1st haha. There is no real reason I don't think except the fact that T-Mobile has the cheaper of the plans when it comes to the competing 3, so the 80$ more that I have to spend to get the phone compared to the 25-50$ a month I save (comparing to my friends who have Verizon and At&t I'm okay with the difference... But still wish it wasn't the case.

I'm rocking the Motorola Cliq. This phone is going to seem so amazingly quick. If I can get 2 1/2 years out of a pos phone like the Cliq I can get 2 years out of this sexy phone.
I'm just happy that I am still out of contract.

mhuckins said:
I'm rocking the Motorola Cliq. This phone is going to seem so amazingly quick. If I can get 2 1/2 years out of a pos phone like the Cliq I can get 2 years out of this sexy phone.
I'm just happy that I am still out of contract.
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GOOOooo should've went to the G1 haha.

mt3g said:
GOOOooo should've went to the G1 haha.
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I almost did! I didn't want to move away from the qwerty keyboard. I've spent so much time on the computer in the last year I couldn't justify another partial upgrade. I was so close to buying an iPhone (they get upgrades, my cliq is like 1.8 or some lousy shiat) and then the SGSIII came along. I haven't slept in weeks. It's like the raspberry pi all over again.

MacTheRipperr said:
I was thinking about it and its one of 2 things imo. I think they are using the extra bucks for the future LTE expansion, building towers and whatnot. But most likely they are a bunch of grubby pricks that want to nickel and dime us
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Spit-balling...
T-Mobile's Value plan is supposed to encourage customer's to avoid the recent spate of aggressive phone upgrades, and they are realizing that smartphone users are unaffected by the economic argument as the situation stands.
The phones actually are more expensive than we tend to think, and even "no-commitment" pricing has been subsidized.
The worldwide currency shifts have affected the cost of phones, and most carriers have been reluctant to reflect reality in a highly competitive market.
High demand and low supply resulted in either a money-grab or an attempt to prevent people from buying up the limited supply and selling on eBay (the latter being, admittedly, unlikely given the nature of the mobile market).
Executives have started to notice that the "free phone" weekends have been eating into profits and T-Mobile is attempting to capitalize on eager buyers that clearly aren't willing to wait until the inevitable deal comes along.
The unusual modem and/or overall lower volume of T-Mobile's sales meant that they weren't able to negotiate a deal as aggressive as the larger players.
T-Mobile has an interest in seeing HTC succeed and are attempting to subtly curb the Goliath that is Samsung in an attempt to keep their leverage going.
Pricing is not related to anything other than an attempt to place devices into tiers (with the S2 at $550, the One S at $600, and the S3 as the perceived-best phone), and they didn't expect a backlash against the better phones costing more money.
T-Mobile is attempting to expand its image as the "value" service by leaving room for negotiation so that bargain-conscious customers talk them up.
Don't take any of the above too seriously. It is kind of late, I haven't put much thought into it, and I've had a lot to drink.
In any case, relative value is relative value. I don't care that Redbox is losing money renting to me for $0.70, it makes me unwilling to pay for Blockbuster Express at $3. I don't care that an album costs $7 at my preferred service of Amazon MP3, I am unwilling to buy because Google Music has it $4. At the end of the day, the (vocal) minority of us that hang it forums like this will sweat the price difference because we spend all of our time comparing like items.
It isn't even remotely fair to T-Mobile (or whomever), but it is human.

Voltage Spike said:
Spit-balling...
T-Mobile's Value plan is supposed to encourage customer's to avoid the recent spate of aggressive phone upgrades, and they are realizing that smartphone users are unaffected by the economic argument as the situation stands.
The phones actually are more expensive than we tend to think, and even "no-commitment" pricing has been subsidized.
The worldwide currency shifts have affected the cost of phones, and most carriers have been reluctant to reflect reality in a highly competitive market.
High demand and low supply resulted in either a money-grab or an attempt to prevent people from buying up the limited supply and selling on eBay (the latter being, admittedly, unlikely given the nature of the mobile market).
Executives have started to notice that the "free phone" weekends have been eating into profits and T-Mobile is attempting to capitalize on eager buyers that clearly aren't willing to wait until the inevitable deal comes along.
The unusual modem and/or overall lower volume of T-Mobile's sales meant that they weren't able to negotiate a deal as aggressive as the larger players.
T-Mobile has an interest in seeing HTC succeed and are attempting to subtly curb the Goliath that is Samsung in an attempt to keep their leverage going.
Pricing is not related to anything other than an attempt to place devices into tiers (with the S2 at $550, the One S at $600, and the S3 as the perceived-best phone), and they didn't expect a backlash against the better phones costing more money.
T-Mobile is attempting to expand its image as the "value" service by leaving room for negotiation so that bargain-conscious customers talk them up.
Don't take any of the above too seriously. It is kind of late, I haven't put much thought into it, and I've had a lot to drink.
In any case, relative value is relative value. I don't care that Redbox is losing money renting to me for $0.70, it makes me unwilling to pay for Blockbuster Express at $3. I don't care that an album costs $7 at my preferred service of Amazon MP3, I am unwilling to buy because Google Music has it $4. At the end of the day, the (vocal) minority of us that hang it forums like this will sweat the price difference because we spend all of our time comparing like items.
It isn't even remotely fair to T-Mobile (or whomever), but it is human.
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I wish I could write so eloquently when drunk. What's your fark handle?

It's sort of amazing to see people complaining about the "high" price without factoring in the total price of the contract or looking at the ETF. Worrisome.

Last year the GS2 and Amaze 4G were priced in the mid $200s so this seems pretty normal for T-mobile. T-mobile has also mused about contract pricing and how it is affecting their competitiveness and bottomline. Since the phone is untouched mostly there were probably other concessions that T-mobile wanted with Samsung on pricing. Then of course this phone is even more feature packed than the last, and you can't remove components once you place it in your previous flagship model (the GS2) so they are getting more and more expensive.
I don't think ETF factors much, unless you are some crazy person who likes to break contracts all the time and can't wait out the 2 years. T-mobile contract prices are lower, sure, but not by much.

Why doesn't anyone incorporate how much the plans cost prior to complaining about the cost of the phone?
I remember reading somewhere that stated studies show customers are more prone to sign with a carrier based on the price of the phone instead of the rate plan.
Let's wise up, fellas. Don't be a poor consumer.

tmobile is the only company selling the phone at this point, and in limited markets at that. I am wondering if they're selling the phone at such a high price in the beggining because they know they can. Look at the overwhelming demand coupled with such a limited supply. It's an easy cash cow. Im wondering if I should wait out and see if the price will go down in the next few weeks. ATT and Sprint are both selling 32gb at 600 and tmobile is selling them at 670 but like I said before Tmobile is the only one selling them at this point and they're pretty much done in Manhattan (i called a bunch of stores already).

ttngu234 said:
Why doesn't anyone incorporate how much the plans cost prior to complaining about the cost of the phone?
I remember reading somewhere that stated studies show customers are more prone to sign with a carrier based on the price of the phone instead of the rate plan.
Let's wise up, fellas. Don't be a poor consumer.
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Click to collapse
The purchase of the phone is the only time they have to fork out a bunch of money so it makes sense that the cost will drive many consumers. For the most part, the rate plan costs are similar across the market. Yes, Verizon is the most expensive but they have a reputation for offering the best network and that allows them to charge a premium.

Sergent D said:
The purchase of the phone is the only time they have to fork out a bunch of money so it makes sense that the cost will drive many consumers. For the most part, the rate plan costs are similar across the market. Yes, Verizon is the most expensive but they have a reputation for offering the best network and that allows them to charge a premium.
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Not really. AT&T and Verizon are both equally expensive, and while Sprint is a bit cheaper (comparable unlimited talk/text plans closest to T-Mobile's 5GB web/tethering in this case), you're still paying a substantially bigger amount over the 2 years even with a cheaper phone.

How much does it cost to make the Pixel/XL look here

Wow:
http://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-xl-bill-of-materials-724542/
CC

As much as I want to say, wow that is so cheap for materials compared to profit I can't. R&D is probably just as expensive and if you think you could source and make this phone yourself you sure could put Google out of money. That is a pretty big profit margin though!
If you think Google is greedy, check out apple: http://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-much-the-iphone-7-costs-to-make/
It costs less for an iPhone than pixel at base parts cost

Yep I'm okay with this... Maybe it will knock apple down a bit as this phone is solid AF.. My problem is the fact that Google or alphabet is absolutely dilusional if they think they can compete with Samsung or apple by going Verizon exlusive. Not bashing Verizon but this was decision had to have been made by a Walmart greeter or a fox news broadcaster based off "facts"
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Those components are cheap as hell. 50 for a SD 821 wowowow.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

cost
amcolash said:
As much as I want to say, wow that is so cheap for materials compared to profit I can't. R&D is probably just as expensive and if you think you could source and make this phone yourself you sure could put Google out of money. That is a pretty big profit margin though!
If you think Google is greedy, check out apple: http://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-much-the-iphone-7-costs-to-make/
It costs less for an iPhone than pixel at base parts cost
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Click to collapse
Yes I agree Apple is just as greedy! When will this come to an end. It used to be that we could get a good quality phone from Google (Nexus line) at a great price. Now everyone is a pig on profits. Who loses, we do.
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And yet I trust Google more than a lot of the cheaper Chinese phones that might have similar specs because of brands

These bills of materials are only a fraction of the cost of the phone to the manufacturer. First off, those totals represent the cost to build for HTC and Foxconn, not what Google and Apple pay them to be the ODM. R&D is a huge budget, advertising is a huge budget, setting up things with banks and insurance companies for financing and protection plans is expensive. I'm sure the uBreakiFix partnership is expensive, but nothing compared to the network of retail stores Apple has. Apple spends a ton on software exclusive to their devices. If Google really keeps Assistant exclusive to the Pixel line, then their most expensive software is also dependent on device sales. Then you have to throw in the payroll and benefits of the thousands of high paid employees that worked on these phones. Carrier partnerships. Network licensing. The list goes on and on. Materials are but a fraction.

joshm.1219 said:
These bills of materials are only a fraction of the cost of the phone to the manufacturer. First off, those totals represent the cost to build for HTC and Foxconn, not what Google and Apple pay them to be the ODM. R&D is a huge budget, advertising is a huge budget, setting up things with banks and insurance companies for financing and protection plans is expensive. I'm sure the uBreakiFix partnership is expensive, but nothing compared to the network of retail stores Apple has. Apple spends a ton on software exclusive to their devices. If Google really keeps Assistant exclusive to the Pixel line, then their most expensive software is also dependent on device sales. Then you have to throw in the payroll and benefits of the thousands of high paid employees that worked on these phones. Carrier partnerships. Network licensing. The list goes on and on. Materials are but a fraction.
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Click to collapse
Plus support costs, customer service, product management, testing, manufacturing support, etc.

amcolash said:
And yet I trust Google more than a lot of the cheaper Chinese phones that might have similar specs because of brands
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC is from Taiwan.

That teardown is amazing!!!!!!
This means that the compass is not the same we had in the 5X and the 6P? (Bosch BMM150). That could finally solve the issues I had with three nexus 5X with the compass losing the calibration in a few hours or just getting crazy at some places!!
According to the teardown, the Pixel compass is: AK09915
This could partially solve my question about how good is the compass in the Pixel, at least I won't expect same terrible behavior as in 5X and 6P.

This is the part people don't understand. They say "oh it only cost 250-300 dollars to make... The phone is over priced, google is ****ing greedy!"
Bill of materials is a fraction of the cost. Customer service, research and development, advertising, supply chain management, employee salaries and benefits, etc. That's all budgeted out before they even determine a price which in turn determines the price... It's called business and economics which the general population doesn't understand...