[mercurio]

iPhones get a much bigger subsidy from the carriers. This can be deduced from the ASP that Apple, HTC, RIM etc report. iPhone ASP has always been $600+, while HTC, RIM have ASPs around $300-400 (Samsung smartphone ASP is even lower). This can also be seen by looking at contract prices outside the US. For example, in the UK all phones can be had free on contract, but the monthly amount you pay for an iPhone is much larger than for a top of the line Android (see the O2 or Vodafone UK sites).

The reason this is not reflected in the contract-less prices is because US carriers have a very strong incentive to inflate them to force you to choose contracts.

[nl]

This isn't the case.

The high-end Android phones start out roughly the same price as the iPhone, but drop quicker (because new high end models replace them quicker).

Here are the Australian unlocked prices (Android reseller chosen because it was the top result in Google):

iPhone4, prices $719-$999: http://store.apple.com/au/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iph...

Samsung Galaxy S2, price $749: http://www.mobicity.com.au/samsung-galaxy-s2.html

Samsung Galaxy S (ie, old model similar age to iPhone4, which started out priced similar to iPhone 4), price $549: http://www.mobicity.com.au/samsung-i9000-galaxy-s-8gb-nextg....

[mercurio]

Actually, in your link above, iPhone 4 prices start from $859. $719 is the price of the 3GS.

I don't know how it is in Australia, but the contract price discrepancy between Android phones and iPhones is well known in England. For example, O2 sells the Galaxy S2 for free with a 24 month £42 plan, while the 16GB iPhone 4 is free on a 24 month £67 plan.

http://shop.o2.co.uk/mobile_phone/pay_monthly/init/Samsung/G... http://shop.o2.co.uk/mobile_phone/pay_monthly/init/Apple/iPh...

[nl]

Sorry, you are right about that price being for the 3GS. I missed that.

Here, plans are pretty comparable.

Galaxy S2, $5/month on $59 plan: http://www.optus.com.au/store/phone/galaxysii?sid=MobAFeat1:...

iPhone 4 16GB, $7/month on $59 plan: http://www.optus.com.au/store/iphone/plans

The Galaxy S2 plan gives you a bit more data, and you do have more flexibility with Galaxy S2 plans - you can choose to pay more for the phone and less for the plan for example. (Of course, you also have a big choice of cheaper Android phones too).

[kenjackson]

Perfect response. Thanks. That explains a lot of it.