T-Mobile launched the Lumia 710 for $50 on the 11th of January for $49.99 with a two year contract. Three weeks later, that price is now down to $39.99. Microsoft, who apparently has an online store that this author had no idea even existed, is also now selling the Lumia 710 … for free. That’s right, they’re giving it away with a two year contract. Earlier today we also saw a tweet from Eldar Murtazin, Editor in Chief of Mobile-Review, saying that the Lumia 710 is on sale in Russia for 9890 rubles ($325). That’s down nearly 27% compared to the 13,490 ruble price tag the device had when it launched in Russia on December 15th. Notice a trend? It’s bad enough Nokia wasn’t forthcoming about how many Windows Phones they sold in Q4 2011, that poor traction is also rearing its ugly head into the first quarter of this year as well. And that’s a shame really since we’re big fans of the Lumia 710 due to the value you get for your money. Sure, Windows Phone Mango may not be the world’s perfect mobile OS, but for $325 you’d be hard pressed to find something better, unless you go with something used that is.
What we want to know is how much are devices based on the next version of Windows Phone, codename Tango, going to cost? Tango is rumored to be a low cost version of Windows Phone that’s meant to be sold in a much wider range of markets than where the Lumia is today. Earlier this week we filed a report that said Tango would bring support for up to 120 languages to Windows Phone, including Hindi, which would make it perfect for the emergine markets. If the Lumia 710 is already going for $325 in Russia, then would a Tango device hit the elusive sub $200 price segment?
That’s probably just a pipe dream, but hey, we’ll find out soon enough at MWC this month!