T-Mobile's Samsung Galaxy Note Shows Up in Leaked Press Shots Discussion

[Ryan Punzalan]

The Samsung Galaxy Note appears to on schedule for its rumored mid-July release at T-Mobile, as leaked images of the device have shown up sporting this carrier's logo.

Read the full content of this Article: T-Mobile's Samsung Galaxy Note Shows Up in Leaked Press Shots

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[LandSurveyor]

Although I really like the Note, complete with its stylus, if the unsubsidized price is the same shocking $750 as the ATT model I saw at Best Buy this weekend, I don't see how anybody much can afford it. It seems to me that the 2 or 3 year turnover before a current device becomes outdated would preclude any device costing more than $500 at the very most. Everything else is an uber-premium model intended to appeal to the few.

Why does a 5-inch phone cost more than a 7-inch tablet? Can the cell radio really add that much to the cost?

[Hook]

Although I really like the Note, complete with its stylus, if the unsubsidized price is the same shocking $750 as the ATT model I saw at Best Buy this weekend, I don't see how anybody much can afford it. It seems to me that the 2 or 3 year turnover before a current device becomes outdated would preclude any device costing more than $500 at the very most. Everything else is an uber-premium model intended to appeal to the few.

Why does a 5-inch phone cost more than a 7-inch tablet? Can the cell radio really add that much to the cost?

Most people wouldn't be getting it unsubsidized.

On the phone radio, whatever the reason, that appears the case. Compare the Galaxy Players to Galaxy Phones.

[Drillbit]

Although I really like the Note, complete with its stylus, if the unsubsidized price is the same shocking $750 as the ATT model I saw at Best Buy this weekend, I don't see how anybody much can afford it. It seems to me that the 2 or 3 year turnover before a current device becomes outdated would preclude any device costing more than $500 at the very most. Everything else is an uber-premium model intended to appeal to the few.

Why does a 5-inch phone cost more than a 7-inch tablet? Can the cell radio really add that much to the cost?

The answer to that question is yes. Modern telephony radio is built upon thousands of patents spread across a dozen or so companies for the majority. Compare the price of a Wifi-only iPad vs. one with 3G that is not including the voice and text part, 2G support and so on. Similar price gaps exist between Android tablets that are Wifi only vs. a 3G version.

Also the Note has an additional cost factor too, being the Super AMOLED screen. If you compare a tablet with Super AMOLED (Galaxy Tab 7.7 or Toshiba Excite 7.7) vs. one without (Galaxy Tab 7.0 plus or upcoming Nexus 7) you can also see another large gap.

[LandSurveyor]

That makes sense. Bit I still can't see parting with $750 for an object I would probably drop within a 2-year period. I think one would be well advised to get one of these on contract and fully insured.

[Varjak]

I don't think that adequately explains it. Google just launched a $200 7-inch tablet. That's almost 1/3 the cost of the Note. the real reason I suspect is that carriers want to make an unsubsidized phone extremely unattractive.

[LandSurveyor]

Additionally, where are these costs for radios and patents on simple feature phones and cheaper smartphones?

[weegie]

I would think it would also be because the form factor is more difficult to engineer, most high end smart phones have similar specs to tablets, they probably don't have to think too much about how they're going to fit everything into
a tablet.
Ultra portable business notebooks were always pretty expensive compared to what you could get in a bigger form factor as well.If you use Dell's Latitude range as an example, the 15.6" model is the cheapest and they get progressively
more expensive as you go down in size .... 15.6-14-13.3-12" the 12" model is almost 50% more expensive than the 15" at a base configuration