Cheap Smartphones Set to Boom in the Pre-paid Market

From PC World: Smartphones are set to become much cheaper as mobile phone vendors try to get data-centric devices in the hands of pre-paid subscribers.

Smartphones are often thought of as very high-end and expensive devices that sit at the top of vendor portfolios, according to Geoff Blaber, analyst at CCS Insight. In reality that is starting to change, with vendors putting out more devices at much lower prices, he said.

Currently, products based on proprietary operating systems are leading the way. Devices like the QWERTY keyboard equipped KS360 from LG and phones upstart INQ Mobile have put smartphones into the mass market with price tags below €130 (US$180), and that segment is expected to grow significantly, according to Blaber.

But increasingly smartphones based on open operating systems -- including Android and Symbian -- are also coming down in price. "A good example of that is the Nokia 5530, which was launched earlier on in the year," said Blaber.

The Nokia 5530 XpressMusic device costs €199 before taxes and subsidies, and just started shipping in, for example, Europe and China.

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