After reading the possible pricing of the Google Nexus One, I was definitely faced with sticker shock. But after crunching the numbers, it may not be all that badly priced, when compared to the competition.
According to sources in the above Gizmodo article, the Google Nexus One will be available straight from Google for $530. That price is already cheaper than the iPhone 3GS (AT&T), Palm Pre (Sprint), and Motorola DROID (Verizon). The most important thing here is that the phone will be unlocked, unlike the other phones, which are tied to their respective networks.
Of course, within the United States, that means you can only use the phone on AT&T and T-Mobile. Speaking of T-Mobile, you can pick up the phone on a 2-Year Contract with T-Mo for $180. There is one catch, though: you are required to get T-Mobile’s Even More Plus plan with it (Unlimited Talk, Text, Web), which is $79.99 a month. That isn’t so bad as subsidized phones from T-Mobile are usually required to be on the Even More plan instead, which is $10/month more.
Of course, this still sucks as you can’t go with a cheaper plan if you don’t need unlimited minutes (like myself). When you finally get down to solid numbers, though, going subsidized or unsubsidized isn’t so bad. Going the subsidized route, you’ll be paying $180 + ($79.99 x 24), which comes out to $2099.76 after the two years. If you decide to go the unsubsidized route AND the cheapest Even More Plus Plan (500 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited web), you’ll pay $530 + ($59.99 x 24) = $1969.76, which is only $130 cheaper when compared to the subsidized route.
With this information, you can see when compared to the competition (as shown on this very useful chart from BillShrink), the Google Nexus One is still the cheapest overall phone available, costing almost $450 cheaper after two years (going the subsidized route).
Using information from BillShrink, costs of phones (both with and without contract) and plans over 24 month period. Unlocked Phones and Phones without Contracts shown using closest Average Usage Plan Pricing, as specified on BillShrink. For T-Mobile, this would be the Even More Plus 1000 plan (1000 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited web). T-Mobile and Google have a very competitively priced phone on their hands and it will be VERY interesting to see how the other carriers react.