Customers benefit from choice, price discounts and widespread availability

Amazon.com discounts Samsung Captivate to $0.01

Buy a new Samsung Captivate Android Phone (AT&T) with a new AT&T service plan and the phone is just one cent.

Get the T Mobile version Samsung Vibrant Android Phone (T-Mobile) of the phone for $50.

The same discounting strategy worked for T Mobile when it offered two HTC Android phones for the price of one. Double up – buy one get one free

Android phones are everywhere and Samsung is working hard with deals, product variety, retail display space, internet marketing, and the whole array of Facebook Twitter presence. It’s working: they have shipped 1 million phones since releasing the Android Galaxy series of smart phones a month ago.

‘”No question there is an anti-Apple, pro-Android movement afoot,” said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J.Gold Associates. “It’s not just about price. It’s also about having an open alternative with much less dictatorial control of what the user can do with the device.” Gold said he expects that sales of Android devices from all manufacturers will surpass Apple iPhone sales by 2011. Gartner analysts have said the same thing.’ ComputerWorld

The closed shop at Apple puts people off. They get blocked from doing what they want. While tens millions of people agree with Apple, a closed strategy has never won the marketing battle to dominate. 

People like choice and dislike monopolies. Choice means lower prices, wider availability, product variety and different service providers.

Samsung Galaxy phone from Sprint, the Epic

Sprint will begin marketing the same Samsung phone branded the Epic today at $199.

Since Amazon.com is already discounting the HTC EVO 4G Android Phone (Sprint) to $199, expect more discounting on the Epic. I just checked, and Amazon.com carries the same price on the Samsung Epic 4G Android Phone (Sprint).

Verizon will start selling the Fascinate, the same Samsung Galaxy S phone, on September 9th.

Samsung is playing the game of having product available from all carriers, in all stores and on the web.

Apple is still with only one carrier in the United States, AT&T.

Discounts are small gift

Saving $100 to $200 on the phone purchase is not a big gift. Smartphone customers are paying the carrier an average of $850 per year in service fees. Regular cell phone customers average $500 per year without data plans.

Being able to download movies, pictures, music and browse the internet is expensive.

The competition in phones has not resulted in lower service fees. The opposite has occurred. Carriers are upping their fees by placing limits on monthly 3G data downloads.

Canadian phones more expensive

Discounted purchases of the Samsung Galaxy phone requires a 2 year contract in the United States. The same phones in Canada require a 3 year contract to be discounted to $150.

It’s the last day of August 2010 and the smartphone wars are just starting.  New phones from HTC and Motorola are coming in the fall. Many more manufacturers are readying their tablet computers to compete with Apple.