In recent weeks, the temperature in the smartphone arena has been on the rise. There has been as much attention on the performance of new devices as on budget friendly deals all over the market.
Telstra, an Australian telco company, has been offering the HTC Wildfire as a pre-paid device at $349. If you have questions as to whether or not you think that would fly with customers, allow me to introduce the fact that the Telstra website lists the Wildfire as “out of stock.” I think it is safe to say they are on to something here.
Motorola and Vodafone have definitely picked up on the craze in the land down under and will be giving the Australian telco something to consider as they plan to launch the Motorola FlipOut at $299 sporting Android 2.1.
This will be the first time an Australian telco has pushed an Android for under $300 and could expect a good number of sales as a result.
The iPhone 4 from Apple is currently on back order in lots of areas thanks to a massive shortage and to get the device at a comparable cost lures buyers into contracts.
With a budget-friendly Android device on the market that offers the same basic experience as the big high-performance contract bearing devices at a fraction of the cost, Android is likely to take another leap in the smartphone market with the Holiday season in the not-so-distant future.
Would you sacrifice a little performance to obtain an Android device in lieu of a lengthy contract? Share your thoughts in the comments below.