Here is a site that is offering a pre-order for a T-Mobile HTC Touch HD2 Passion Dragon Unlocked GSM Cell Phone - Popular Electron for the low-low price of $899.
Granted it is hard to use this as an accurate comparison for Passion, however I think it's fair to assume that Passion won't be sold for less than Droid or Eris, and will likely cost more.
With contract, Eris is $100, Droid is $200. The actual cost of the phones without contract reflect this $100 difference. The best price I found for Eris and Droid are $419 and $529 respectively.
Based on this it's fair to say that Verizon values a new contract at around $330 (very close to their new early-termination fee... coincidence? )
So nailing down Passion's actual cost will give us an idea of how much we can expect to pay for it with contract. No doubt the $900 price-point for the GSM Dragon is inflated, but by how much?
For the sake of argument, let's assume that the cost is half way between Droid and the GSM Dragon. That will put the Passion at around $720. Subtracting the contract "rebate" we're looking at close to $400. That's pretty steep, but comparing that cost to what the iPhones were when they first released, it's not impossible to imagine.
On the other hand, it's not hard to imagine Verizon going with a $100-$200-$300 scale for their 3 Android phones.
I'll be the first to admit that I am basing these numbers on several speculations, but my guess is the Passion will be offered for around $350 w/contract. Any higher could turn away a lot of people.
What say you? Am I close or way off base?
Granted it is hard to use this as an accurate comparison for Passion, however I think it's fair to assume that Passion won't be sold for less than Droid or Eris, and will likely cost more.
With contract, Eris is $100, Droid is $200. The actual cost of the phones without contract reflect this $100 difference. The best price I found for Eris and Droid are $419 and $529 respectively.
Based on this it's fair to say that Verizon values a new contract at around $330 (very close to their new early-termination fee... coincidence? )
So nailing down Passion's actual cost will give us an idea of how much we can expect to pay for it with contract. No doubt the $900 price-point for the GSM Dragon is inflated, but by how much?
For the sake of argument, let's assume that the cost is half way between Droid and the GSM Dragon. That will put the Passion at around $720. Subtracting the contract "rebate" we're looking at close to $400. That's pretty steep, but comparing that cost to what the iPhones were when they first released, it's not impossible to imagine.
On the other hand, it's not hard to imagine Verizon going with a $100-$200-$300 scale for their 3 Android phones.
I'll be the first to admit that I am basing these numbers on several speculations, but my guess is the Passion will be offered for around $350 w/contract. Any higher could turn away a lot of people.
What say you? Am I close or way off base?