Sprint Nextel adds to phone lineup, fiddles with smartphone pricing

Sprint Nextel Corp. this past week made increased efforts to work its online retail handset angle. The carrier added at least four new handsets in the entry- and low-tiers, cut prices on smartphones and toyed with pricing on its iDEN handsets.
Between Feb. 12 and Feb. 19, Sprint Nextel made as many as 20 pricing changes. However, it’s unclear exactly why the carrier made the changes that it did since so many factors figure into the formula.
Specifically, Sprint Nextel added three handsets from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and one each from Nokia Corp., Motorola Inc. and LG Electronics Co Ltd. The Samsung PM A840 ($30) and MM A960 (free) are back after disappearing in December. The Samsung MM A940 at $50 also made a renewed appearance. The Nokia 6165i at $30, Motorola’s c290 and the LG LX350 for free also are newly available.
Sprint Nextel also dropped prices on the Palm Inc. Treo 700p and 700wx to $250 (from $300), a move that came as rival Verizon Wireless launched the Treo 700wx at $400. Sprint Nextel also dropped the price on the Research In Motion Ltd. BlackBerry 8703e to $150 (from $200) and on the BlackBerry 7130e to $100 (from $150). The carrier dropped the Motorola Q to $100 (from $200), which meets rival Verizon Wireless’ price.
The carrier also tinkered with four of the 18 iDEN handsets in its portfolio, increasing the price on three and dropping the price on one.
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and Alltel Corp. also knocked down the price of their BlackBerrys during the past week.
Cingular is selling the BlackBerry 8700c for $100 (down from $150). Alltel slashed prices on Palm models to Sprint Nextel’s level, pricing the Treo 700wx at $250 (from $350) and the Palm Treo 700p to $250 (from $350). The BlackBerry 7130e and 8703e at Alltel are both $150 (down from $200 and $250, respectively).
Prepaid carrier Tracfone Wireless Inc slightly upped the price on a trio of Motorola handsets.