Having unveiled its new flagship mobile the Galaxy S5 at the Mobile World Congress recently, Samsung has already made it clear when and where the smartphone will launch. Avid Samsung fans can get their hands on the device on April 11, when the Galaxy S5 will launch in no less than 150 countries. But those keen to buy this new device may have noticed that one important morsel of information has been conspicuous by its absence.
Samsung has yet to reveal any pricing information. Thus, we are left to speculate as to what the price of the Galaxy S5 will be, with several retailers at least giving us a clue regarding how much we will have to shell out to purchase one at release date.
Galaxy S5: Similar retail price likely
The general consensus of opinion is that the Galaxy S5 will retail for around $199-$250 for those consumers who purchase an attendant contract with it, and between $550-$650 for an off-contract purchase. This would be around the typical price range that Samsung releases its smartphones at, but early retail listings for the mobile also give us something of an insight into what we can expect to pay.
Samsung has already held a competition giveaway for its new mobile at which it listed the ARV price as $650. Meanwhile Gotta Be Mobile has noted that the Galaxy S4 on sale at T-Mobile is priced at $624 full retail, while the Sprint Galaxy S4 is priced at $599.99. Both of these prices are pretty much in line with the predicted figure mentioned previously, and should be a reasonable indication of what we can expect the Galaxy S5 to retail at.
Conversely, T-Mobile are also currently running a Galaxy S5 giveaway contest, which lists the ARV as being $668.99. However, this is for an S-View Flip version of the handset, and we know that the S-View Flip Covers for the Galaxy usually retail at $50. You could conclude from this that a price point of about $620 could be viable for the Galaxy S5.
Meanwhile British consumers (who are used to paying more for everything, trust me!) can expect the device to retail at a slightly higher price than in the United States. A website entitled ‘Unlocked Mobiles’ has already listed the Galaxy S5’s SIM free version at £599.98 (dollar value approximately $1,000). This does sound a little pricey even for the British market, though, with the Galaxy S4 currently retailing around £250 ($415) cheaper.
Korean media moots aggressive approach
However, reports are still emanating that contrary to the impression given by the retailers that Samsung will in fact offer the Galaxy S5 for a cheaper retail price than was the case with the Galaxy S4. Samsung’s native media continues to report that the company will launch the smartphone at a lower price point than the Sony Xperia Z2, with the Korean manufacturing giant evidently weary of the competition in this increasingly crammed marketplace.
With the Galaxy S5 perhaps not a mindblowing device, and an exciting new iPhone on the horizon, cutting the retail price would seem to be a valid strategy for Samsung.
