We were pretty amazed by the pre-order price for the HTC 8X and HTC 8S in UK, with the HTC 8X selling for £332.48 without VAT and the HTC 8S for £187.48 excluding VAT.
Now we have reports via WeLoveWP.hk that the Nokia Lumia 920 is going on pre-order at Toaboa, China’s largest online shopping site, for only 3,999 HKD (USD $512, £320). WeLoveWP confirmed from their sources that is real.
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Low prices = good for consumers, bad for stockholders.
They must be barely making any money on the phones at those prices, they must cost substantially more to manufacture than an iPhone due to economies of scale, and they don't make any related after market sales so they cant subsidise low phone costs via that route.
Buy a Lumia or an HTC and you buy a Lumia or an HTC. Thats it.
Buy an iPhone and you buy an iPhone, plus a bunch of apps that Apple gets 30% revenue from, plus a fraction* of an iPad and an iMac and an iPod Touch and *another* iPhone.
* Not every iPhone purchaser buys even one let alone all of these, but its a recognised fact that iPhone sales drive purchases of additional Apple products including more iPhones. Whereas buy say an HTC WP8 phone and if you like it, you might have another family member buy a Lumia, since its a WP8 phone and the distinction will often be on price. |
