Amazon breaks sub-$100 price barrier for G1 smartphone

Paul Boutin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:15:56 -0400

Amazon.com has dropped its price on the HTC-built T-Mobile G1 phone, which features Google's open-source Android software, from the list price of $400 to $97.99.

Many gadget hounds consider the G1, with built in support for Gmail and other Google apps, the iPhone's sole worthy adversary. The G1 features a full-size keyboard hidden beneath its sliding display (see video below).

Gartner analyst Tole Hart states the fairly obvious: "Ninety-nine dollars is the price point at which consumers will readily adopt a phone."

However, the fine-print commitments must be noted: Cancel the two-year T-Mobile contract that comes with the phone, and you'll be billed $250 to undo the discount. An unlimited wireless data plan, which many a geek will need, costs $40 a month.

Why the steep discount? Hart writes, "T-Mobile is willing to sell the phone at the lower price because it wants to add high value customers in the face of recession as well as competitive products like the iPhone and Palm Pre, which is coming out later this year."

Amazon breaks sub-$100 price barrier for G1 smartphone

Paul Boutin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:15:56 -0400

Amazon.com has dropped its price on the HTC-built T-Mobile G1 phone, which features Google's open-source Android software, from the list price of $400 to $97.99.

Gartner analyst Tole Hart states the fairly obvious: "Ninety-nine dollars is the price point at which consumers will readily adopt a phone."