The all-new HTC One A9, which we covered in full last week is definitely becoming one of my favourite HTC devices. I’ve got one right here and, let me tell you, it’s very impressive indeed.
However, what’s not so impressive is the pricing. Last week we pointed out that a promotional deal in America gave a rather large pricing difference across the Atlantic…
– £258.94 ($399.99) for the 32GB, 3GB RAM version in the USA
– £459.99 for the very same model here in the UK.
To muddy the waters, there’s two versions…
1 – 16GB on-board storage, 2GB RAM (plus up to 2TB via the microSD)
2 – 32GB on-board storage, 3GB RAM (plus up to 2TB via the microSD)
..and it looks like we’re going to be getting the 16GB / 2GB RAM version a lot here in the UK. Even though it is possible to fish one of the 32GB / 3GB RAM versions out, the 16GB / 2GB RAM version will be the one that networks will be supplying.out.
As we mentioned earlier, we were aware that this was a promotional price in the USA, but the £201.05 price difference seemed really unfair, especially when you also consider that the 16GB / 2GB version here in the UK is also going to be around £400 (Vodafone have informed us that they’ll offer it on Pay As You Go for this much).
Slashgear have received an update from HTC stating..
The cost of the HTC One A9 is the same worldwide to all distributors and operator partners. For end consumers, HTC’s sales regions are given the freedom to set prices and promotions as they see fit for local market needs. The One A9 price in the US is a very limited-time promotional offer for that region’s online store, as well as select HTC-only franchise stores. The offer is a special promotional pre-sale and is expected to conclude once the One A9 is available on-shelf at major retail and distributor partners.
After the promotional pre-sale offer ends, the new price in the US at htc.com will be $499.99 beginning 12:01am on 11/7.
So, on November 7th the price of the 32GB / 3GB version will be $499.99, which is £325.75. That’s £134.24 more expensive after November 7th for the same phone. However, here in the UK you’ll probably be getting the 16GB / 2GB RAM model, which will be selling locked on Vodafone for £400 or from places like Mobilephonesdirect for £419.99. That’s £40 more expensive for a handset with a lower spec.
Sigh.
Here at Coolsmartphone we’re used to this disparity in pricing between America and Europe, but this is a bitter pill to swallow.