Sprint officially announces Epic 4G: August 31st, $249.99!

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20 minutes ago: http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/08...s-august-31st/

I confirm. I just got their email. Where the hell is the off-contract price?

Originally Posted by TheBiles

I confirm. I just got their email. Where the hell is the off-contract price?

The way I read it, you add back in the contract discounts to get the off-contract total: $250 + $150 + $100 = $500.

Originally Posted by boomerbubba

The way I read it, you add back in the contract discounts to get the off-contract total: $250 + $150 + $100 = $500.

Got damn! maybe i can get a cheap one from craigslist

Originally Posted by boomerbubba

The way I read it, you add back in the contract discounts to get the off-contract total: $250 + $150 + $100 = $500.

Yeah, the reservation site confirmed the $500. I was just confused because the email for the EVO listed the MSRP and all of the discounts and not just a $350 "2-year price."

sprint makes me laugh, seriously, they have to have the cheapest prices in order to get customers that can't afford anything else because they are so boneheaded that they drive every other customer away. 250 dollars for this phone? on a 2 year contract? Seriously? I feel like its April Fools or something, the Evo was 200 and this thing should be too. Oh wait, how much is the droid 2? Yea, not 250 dollars.

Here's the image from my email this morning. I plan on getting one for my wife since she likes a keyboard coming from a blackberry. I'll be sticking with my Evo

Originally Posted by robl45

sprint makes me laugh, seriously, they have to have the cheapest prices in order to get customers that can't afford anything else because they are so boneheaded that they drive every other customer away. 250 dollars for this phone? on a 2 year contract? Seriously? I feel like its April Fools or something, the Evo was 200 and this thing should be too. Oh wait, how much is the droid 2? Yea, not 250 dollars.

Taken from another message board.....perspective...

Everyone who is upset with the price needs to think of the financials for Sprint/Samsung. They're including extra hardware features (QWERTY, front-facing cam, rear flash) that the Vibrant & Captivate don't have, all the while serviced on cheaper plans. You can't hit the margins on both sides of the equation (higher spec'd phone & cheaper plans) and expect the phone to be the same price as their competitors.

As soon as I saw that Sprint's Galaxy S would be a QWERTY slider, I knew there would be a price differential relative to the other 3 carriers' Galaxy S models. When it retained the front-facing cam and added a rear flash, it was obvious.

Originally Posted by nismology

Taken from another message board.....perspective...

yea, problem is, sprint needs to think about the fact that 2 of these things is 700 dollars before you get the rebates. lot of money for a family to spend.

My theory on the price is that they've looked at how many smart phones are in short supply right now and decided they can launch this at a bit more money and reduce their subsidies cost, while still selling reasonable volumes.

I called a Best Buy yesterday, and their phone VRU even had a message saying that if you are calling for iPhone 4's, EVO 4Gs, Droid X, or Droid Incredibles, that they are out of stock.

So demand of high end smart phones is high enough that they've looked at the supply and demand curve and decided that they can at least initially have this phone for a bit more than the market point for the rest of these phones is currently. I suspect 3 months from now, it will have dropped down to $199.

Over a two year contract that's going to cost you $2150 including the phone (regular price: ($79*24 mo) + $250), as a percentage, the extra $50 is pretty nominal. (2.3% of the contract).