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Poll: What do you think about n900 price
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What do you think about n900 price

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crabolsky is offline crabolsky
2009-08-29 , 15:59
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#51
Since technically it is a phone an unsubsidized price of $699 sounds right in line with the iPhone or HTC. However I do think that it is unfortunate that we won't have an option without 3g plan (ala n810 senario). As much as I would love to get back on board with a new Nokia tablet, Ian not going to get onboard with a 2year tmoble contract as I already have a year left with AT&T.
 
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ysss is offline ysss
2009-08-29 , 16:08
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#52
Don't forget that the cost per unit becomes lower the more unit they sell.
 
attila77 is offline attila77
2009-08-29 , 16:31
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#53
The iPhone 3GS has a bill of materials totalling $175. Work it out.
Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
Android on a sub-$100 phone - if it does pretty much everything the N900 does, how is it that different to the N900?
OK, call me stupid, but... how is that $175 BOM going to result in a sub-$100 phone that has "pretty much" identical functionality ? Not to mention that the N900's HW costs a bit more than 3GS.

But why do you equate low-price with "crapy hardware" - because you've become so accustomed to being ripped of at the high end?
It's because I've never seen a Yugo I wanted to buy (yes, we make those here), even if someone put AC, leather seats and a nice air freshener in it.
 

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Milhouse is offline Milhouse
2009-08-29 , 17:01
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#54
Originally Posted by ColonelKilkenny View Post
That's iPhone 3G BoM, not 3GS. And those are estimates. What about manufacturing costs? Logistics? What about support costs? Etc. Etc.
You're right, I stand corrected - the iPhone 3G BoM is $175, the iPhone 3GS BoM is $179. Amazing how the retail price difference is so vast yet the cost of components is so similar!

I'm not suggesting companies should not recover their development costs or make a tidy profit, what I do object to is price gouging and while Nokia, Apple, Palm all do it I'm looking forward to the day when real price competition comes to the smartphone market which it will, hopefully, in 2010.

The component cost of the N900 is perhaps closer to $200 and Nokia will make and sell millions as they did with the N97. There's a lot of margin in these products, probably too much is all I'm saying, and while you all accept it as being "ok" and "fair" it will continue, and most likely worsen.

Other MIDs will come to market soon enough that will match the N900 in terms of functionality if not size, using many of the same if not identical components, made by much smaller manufacturers without the same economies of scale than Nokia, and yet they won't cost anything like $700... and each time I see one I will be forced to ask myself - if they can do that for (say, $400) why is the N900 so fecking expensive?
 

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Milhouse is offline Milhouse
2009-08-29 , 17:06
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#55
Originally Posted by attila77 View Post
OK, call me stupid, but... how is that $175 BOM going to result in a sub-$100 phone that has "pretty much" identical functionality ? Not to mention that the N900's HW costs a bit more than 3GS.
Well first, as has already been pointed out, that's just an estimate - buy in the right quantities, threaten to go elsewhere, do deals for your other products (ie. iPods) and it might even work out less than the estimates. Secondly, technology costs go down with increased integration as performance increases etc. etc. so by next year, the same level of integration used in the iPhone may be available offering similar performance from a different manufacturer (Freescale?) for less money. Mobile phones are made by the million, the economies of scale are huge. Costs will go down. Margins and profits will only go up.

But honestly - I dunno, ask the guy at Samsung, it was his postulation and he should probably know. Guy at Samsung predicts.

I know we don't want to admit we're being ripped off by smartphone prices, but we all secretly know we are. ;-)
Last edited by Milhouse; 2009-08-29 at 17:09.
 
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ysss is offline ysss
2009-08-29 , 17:13
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#56
Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
But honestly - I dunno, ask the guy at Samsung, it was his postulation and he should probably know. Guy at Samsung predicts.

I know we don't want to admit we're being ripped off by smartphone prices, but we all secretly know we are. ;-)
It's the same way that Apple is offering iPhone 3G for less. They're gonna sell cheap android phones with last year's (wait no, a bit longer than that) technology. Don't expect Cortex A8 level device here.
 
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daperl is offline daperl
2009-08-29 , 17:47
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#57
Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
Mobile phones are made by the million, the economies of scale are huge. Costs will go down. Margins and profits will only go up.
If I understand you correctly, I think your conclusions are wrong. Apple raced out of the gate to create their high profit margins. If people start catching up, costs should level out and prices should drop, and thus profit margins should go down if competition is tight.
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attila77 is offline attila77
2009-08-29 , 17:52
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#58
No, what I don't understand how *ANDROID* will change the game ? What's the magic ingredient that's stopping Samsung selling these N900 class HW smartphones for 100$ today ?

Let me translate you the Samsung pitch. Our low end smartphones are not selling. We'll just shoehorn Android on a bare minimum it can run on. Then, using Android's "high-tech appeal" we'll be able to sell more of them as people will believe these devices are higher class than they really are.
 

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choubbi is offline choubbi
2009-08-29 , 18:07
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#59
N900 announced at 649€ (more than $925) in France, so yes I'll be extremely lucky if we can get it at $700 here.

I'm ready to shell out those $900+ though, the device looks worth it. I wasn't so sure about paying 500€ (would be $715 now, don't know bach then) for the N810 when I bought it, though. (and I didn't, I got it cheaper on eBay, at the expense of the regional keyboard)
 
Milhouse is offline Milhouse
2009-08-29 , 18:18
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#60
Originally Posted by attila77 View Post
No, what I don't understand how *ANDROID* will change the game ? What's the magic ingredient that's stopping Samsung selling these N900 class HW smartphones for 100$ today ?

Let me translate you the Samsung pitch. Our low end smartphones are not selling. We'll just shoehorn Android on a bare minimum it can run on. Then, using Android's "high-tech appeal" we'll be able to sell more of them as people will believe these devices are higher class than they really are.
I don't read that quote as Samsung stating they will be making sub-$100 Android phones rather I believe the Samsung guy is predicting that other manufacturers will come to market with Android phones that cost less than $100 to put together.

As an example of component cost, the OMAP3530 can be had for $22 in quantities of 1,000 - just think what kind of price Nokia are paying for the lower spec 3430. The CPU and screen are going to be by far the most expensive components any phone, everything else (WiFi/BT/GPS/Accelerometer/DRAM/Flash/Battery) will be single digit dollars.

Smartphones are now so highly integrated, particularly with processors such as OMAP and Snapdragon that the bar for entry has been reduced and with an open source OS like Android the bar is only going to go lower. Samsung know this.

Punters in the market for a "smartphone" may well look at the future cheap Android phones and the over priced devices from Nokia/Apple/Palm and ask themselves why they should pay so much more for these "high-end" devices that do much the same job as the "low end" device.

As I say, I don't begrudge Nokia or Apple or anyone else a profit for their labours but when you cost up the components that goes into these devices, which are then sold by the million, it gets a little hard to consider the price they are sold at as anything but "fair".
 
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