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June 20, 2008

Late yesterday, Sprint Nextel said it has reduced the price of the Samsung Instinct smartphone when it goes on sale today for only $129.99 instead of its previously announced price of $200.

Viewed as Sprint’s response to Apple’s iPhone, Samsung's new Instinct smartphone is aimed at taking some market share away from the iPhone.

It features a touchscreen, 3-G capability for fast Internet access, support for both corporate and personal eMail, visual voice mail, GPS, multimedia features, 2-megapixel camera, a micro-SD slot with support for up to 8 Gb and a speech-to-action button for voice commands.

Some say Sprint has lowered its price as an attempt to match the lower price of the iPhone.

However, consumers need to be reminded that the $130 Instinct price tag is after a $100 rebate with a two-year service contrat.

Sprint was directly involved in the design of its new smartphone and said it plans to spend more than $100 million this year alone to market the Samsung device.

That amount is about 3 times the marketing budget for Sprint’s biggest phone launch in 2007.

In the mean time, Sprint is still struggling to reduce customer losses and return to profitability. CEO Dan Hesse also said that the company hopes the Instinct can help reduce 'customer churn' rates.

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Source: Sprint Nextel.