Samsung Galaxy S4 cheaper than iPhone 5, price details hint
A Samsung competition page hints that the company's new smart phone will be cheaper than Apple's flagship.
The first pricing details concerning the Samsung Galaxy S4 have emerged, hinting that Samsung's next smart phone will be cheaper than its Apple-flavoured rival.
Samsung has kicked off a US online giveaway that awards Galaxy S4 smart phones to lucky winners. As GSMArena spied, the competition small print specifies that the phone's 'approximate retail value' as $579.
That translates to roughly £383, but is likely a price before US sales tax is applied. This tax varies a little from state to state, but if you live in New York (for example) the sales tax is 7 per cent, which would leave you with a final price of roughly $620 (£409) for the Galaxy S4.
That compares favourably to the price of Apple's iPhone 5, which costs $649 to buy SIM-free in the US, before those taxes are applied.
We still have no confirmed prices for the Galaxy S4 in the UK, so until local retailers finish number-crunching, it's best to take these figures with a pinch of salt.
While Samsung's hinted price suggests that its new flagship won't be a Nexus 4-grade bargain however, they do suggest it could prove to be less costly than its major rival, the iPhone 5.
Apple's slender metal mobile starts at a wince-inducing £529 to buy SIM-free in the UK, my guess based on typical mobile prices would be that the S4 will eventually cost somewhere between £460-£500 when it hits shop shelves on 26 April.
Meanwhile an Italian Android site has speculated based on purported leaked documentation that the price of the S4 in euros will be about €599 -- a price than translates to roughly £513.
Update: UK retailer unlocked-mobiles.com has kicked off Brit pre-orders for the Galaxy S4, with a high price of £529.98. If you can wait, it's very possible that other retailers' prices will be cheaper as we near the phone's launch date.
How much would you be willing to pay for the Galaxy S4? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.
