Palm’s new $99.99 Centro is bringing $300-$600 smart phone prices down dramatically, says C/Net. It features a 320×320 pixel color touchscreen, full keyboard, camera, microSD card and Palm OS 5.4.9 and will be available through AT&T and Sprint.
“What we’ve known as the smart-phone market is quickly becoming just the cell phone market,” said Iain Gillott, founder of iGillottResearch. “These phones used to cost $500 and $600. Some still do, but we’re seeing more and more of them come down in price and targeted for consumers.”
Traditionally, in the United States, the smart phone market has been dominated by Research in Motion’s BlackBerry devices and Palm’s Treo line of phones. Initially, these devices were thought of as corporate productivity tools allowing people to send and receive corporate e-mail.
Of the 213 million cell phones operating in the United States today, only about 4 percent of them are smart phones, according to market research firm M:Metrics. Today there are roughly 9 million smart phone users in the U.S. That figure has almost tripled in the past two years.
At less than $100, it could convert a lot of regular cell phone users to a sleek new smart phone.
Some e-mail and Web surfing can be done on feature-based phones like Motorola’s popular Razr. But the experience is often clunky and most smart phones cost hundreds of dollars, whereas many feature-based phones are practically given away by carriers.
“Carriers and manufacturers recognize that smart-phone owners spend more money on services by browsing the Web and watching mobile video,” said Mark Donovan, chief market senior analyst for M:Metrics.
Apple essentially redefined the market, combining the functionality of an iPod with a phone and portable Web browsing device.
At $100, Palm’s Centro will initially be sold exclusively through Sprint’s network. The Centro will be offered through other carriers 90 days after it becomes available through Sprint.
Of course it’s not really $99 — you also need to buy a two-year service agreement and required service plan. Centro customers may subscribe to any of the Sprint voice calling plans. Data capabilities are available through Sprint Power Vision packs, which range from $15 to $30 per month.
M:Metrics ranked the top mobile Web companies among smartphone users in the United States and the United Kingdom, for the month of April (below).
United States United Kingdom Company Total Company Total Google Inc. 62.48% Google Inc. 30.94% Yahoo! Inc. 33.54% Orange Personal Communications Services Limited 21.68% Microsoft Corporation 33.36% British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) 20.90% AT&T Inc. 21.22% Microsoft Corporation 17.75% Time Warner Inc. 19.06% Vodafone Group PLC 16.79% The Walt Disney Company 17.00% eBay Inc. 13.08% News Corporation 15.54% O2 (UK) Ltd, Service Operations 12.77% Sprint Nextel 15.29% Hutchison Whampoa Limited 12.67% The Weather Channel Interactive, Inc. 15.28% Yahoo! Inc. 10.97% eBay Inc. 14.19% Deutsche Telekom AG 10.71%
C/Net, InfoSync and Phone Scoop have more.
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