As April approaches and Samsung is readying its Galaxy S IV stock for shipping, we get hold of various price points the smart phone will be available at. For example, we saw a UK website offering a pre-sale for the phone at the price of £529 (which in the current market conditions means $800 or, if you prefer, €618).
Yesterday, the samsunggalaxysiv.com confirmed through insider sources that the Galaxy S IV will cost €599 in some European countries, and at this price you’ll get the 16GB version.
Today another sale price surfaced, but this time not through leaks or insiders. No. It was through the fine-print of a contest Samsung launched in the US, which asked for your e-mail in order to be randomly selected to win one of the 45 Samsung Galaxy S IV available to win each day, or the Grand Prize consisting of a Galaxy S IV handset and a Samsung Smart TV (US-only contest page). The rules of the contest mentioning the price are below.
5. PRIZE DETAILS:
First Prizes: 48 First Prizes will be awarded, each consisting of a Samsung Galaxy S® 4 mobile device. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $650*. [€502]
The asterisk next to the guesstimated price points to the following disclaimer:
* The mobile device pricing is approximate and subject to change based on retail pricing set by Sponsor and carrier partners once the mobile device is available for purchase […]
And good that this disclaimer was there, since the same fine-print contest rules pointed to a different price a while ago, as reported by Forbes and Pocketnow. The previous estimated retail price was set at $579 (around €447, more than €150 cheaper than in EU countries).
That a lot of cash, especially if you like in the UK or the rest of Europe. The HTC One is at the same price as the soon to be released Galaxy S4 price for Europe for example. But Sony’s Xperia Z is much more expensive, coming in at around €640.
If I was to decide what to buy with €600, I would go with buying the quad-core 1.5 GHz Nexus 4 16GB and a Nexus 7 tablet instead, but that’s my take on this.