Name That (Smartphone) Price

With the brand new HTC Inspire about to debut with a rumored on-contract price of $99.99, one has to wonder how much a high-end smartphone really should cost sans contract. I think we can all agree $100 is quite low for a state-of-the art smartphone. The carrier subsidy here is pretty obvious. I haven't seen the off-contract pricing for the Inspire yet, but I'm guessing it will be around $600, or so. I just don't think this is reasonable.

It's fairly rare for cell phone carriers to offer their prepaid customers the same phones that are available to postpaid customers. When they do, it's usually a model that has been out for some time. Still look at the current price of Sprint's Samsung Intercept without contract, compared to the prepaid version on Virgin Mobile. Check out the Sprint Optimus S and the Virgin Mobile Optimus V. That's right, the prepaid phones are over $100 cheaper than the same postpaid phone sans contract.

Don't get me wrong, I like carrier subsidies as much as the next person, but it's becoming increasingly clear that no smartphone can remain current in terms of specs and power for the life of a two year contract (especially with carriers' reluctance to push out timely updates). It's nice to be rewarded (with subsidized pricing) for renewing one's contract every two years. Wouldn't it would be nice not to be penalized for getting the smartphone you want to use with that contract?