When Hugo Barra, Google vice president of Android product management, unveiled the "Google Edition" Galaxy S4, the crowd applauded. The Google version of the GS4 will sport a really fast Snapdragon 600 chip, a 16GB of storage, bootloader unlocked, and runs on pure Android OS.
Everyone was pleased until Barra added that it will be sold on Google Play come June 26 and has a sticker price of $649. Then there was silence. Will consumers be willing to spend their hard-earned money for Google's GS4?
In the United States, having a locked smartphone does not really affect many consumers. The majority of consumers in the U.S. do not switch carriers nor use them when they travel out of the country. An unlocked unit just means that you do not have the software lock implemented by wireless carriers. It also means that users can switch SIM cards since it supports GSM technology. The Google Edition Galaxy S4 will be good for T-Mobile, AT&T or other prepaid carriers using GSM.
The unlocked bootloader of the Nexus GS4 gives consumers the option to use any version of the Android OS that they like. This also means that users will be able to get the latest updates as soon as they are rolled out. Other consumers who will buy their Samsung Galaxy S4 from a carrier will not be able to do this because the manufacturers have implemented software skins on whatever version of the Android OS is installed.
Now about that tag price. It seems that the $649 tag price for the pure Android version of the GS4 is still within the limits of reason. If consumers buy a prepaid Galaxy S4 from mobile carriers, the price may range from $630 to $650. The price can only be chopped off if end-users will sign up for a two-year contract with the carrier. High-end handsets really fall within the $500 to $600 range.
The story gets a bit complicated when consumers put the $649-Google GS4 and the $349-Nexus 4 on opposite ends of the scale. No one can really determine why the Nexus 4 is priced that low but it is safe to assume that Google had the final say on the numbers. In contrast, Samsung dictates how their flagship smartphone should be priced.
The Google Edition Galaxy S4 might not be for everyone. Those who care about the pure Android experience will definitely not have a problem cashing out $649. Those who do not care about all the technical hullabaloo will not even look at the Google version of the GS4.
