There’s been a lot of speculation over not only the ship date for Blackberry’s latest flagship model – the Blackberry Bold – but over what the ultimate pricing will be.
It looks like at least one major reseller will be pricing the Blackberry Bold at $399 after a 2 year contract.
(NOTE: After visiting the Berlin CT Best Buy, I am convinced that even though the sales circular lists $399 as the price for the Blackberry Bold — the store price will be $299 for new activations on a plan of $65/mo or more and $349 on a plan that is less than $65/mo).
If you are an existing AT&T customer eligible for an equipment upgrade you can get the device at only $20 more – or $419 the price is $349. If you’re not eligible at all for an upgrade then you’ll pay the full boat price of $659.
This pricing is surprising because AT&T had announced that their price on the Blackberry Bold would be $299 when it is officially released in their stores nationwide November 4, 2008.
This will be an interesting story to watch. The wildly popular iPhone is a cheaper choice at $199 for an 8GB model and $299 for a 16GB. Arguably the iPhone has more capabilities with a vastly larger inventory of downloadable programs and the same (or similar) monthly data service pricing.
Will a $399 $299 Blackberry Bold sell into an economy that is facing more bad news each day? Will Best Buy lower their pricing to meet the AT&T announced pricing?
Click the photo at left for a larger image of the Blackberry display in the Berlin CT Best Buy. If you look closely at the price tag you’ll see the advertised pricing for new plans, upgrades and outright purchases.
