4 ms·

>Jolla’s handset will cost €399 ($513) and is slated to ship at the end of the year. I find Sailfish an interesting product due to its technological heritage b

>Jolla’s handset will cost €399 ($513) and is slated to ship at the end of the year. I find Sailfish an interesting product due to its technological heritage but that is rather a lot. I wonder what their marketing strategy is for this device. From a developer's perspective you can't help but compare that price to how much it would cost to get a Firefox OS development unit. FxOS also promises you access to a larger, if less affluent, audience. On the other hand, a higher price might prevent the kind of shortages we are currently seeing with Geeksphone Keon and Peak.

shared4you 13y ago
Yup, like one of the comments mentioned: a Chinese's salary is 600€/month so spending 400€ is exorbitant. Salaries in India and some eastern European countries are equally low. I would've bought it if it were 200 - 300€. FxOS looks promising on low-end market: my Peak is working very well so far :) I'll wait until Q4/2013 or Q1/2014 to see if they release a cheaper model. [edit: other EE countries -> some EE countries]
- dreen 13y ago
  For the record, India is not in Eastern Europe and the wages and quality of life here are a HELL OF A LOT better than in India. edit: but yeah, jolla is too expensive.
  - adamors 13y ago
    In some Eastern European countries the average salary is below 450€/month.
    - cpursley 13y ago
      Which ones?
      - networked 13y ago
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_in_Europe_by_monthly_average_wage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_in_Europe_by... (sort by "net $")
    - dreen 13y ago
      Well my point was that a quarter of India lives on 10€/month. But then again those people probably don't buy smartphones.
      - parimm 13y ago
        The government gives you jobs at 2EUR a day for 100 days, this is available to everyone, Your claim that a quarter of India lives on less than 10EUR a month is wrong
        dreen 13y ago
        Its not really a claim Im just quoting wikipedia
        Someone 13y ago
        I don't follow your logic. Let's assume the Indian government promises every citizen a EUR 2 salary for 100 days. Most people will have a working career that is much longer than that. Spreading that EUR 60 a month salary over 10,000 days (27-ish working years) is EUR 0,02 a day, a EUR 9,98 a month salary for the other 99% of their working life would bring the average close to EUR 10 a month.
veeti 13y ago
Maybe Jolla could try and lure some existing Android and iOS developers by giving out free devices. wink wink nudge
- networked 13y ago
  If so, then pricing their first phone higher might be a valid way to increase its perceived value among the developers who get one for free. The assumption behind it would be that if you got a "$500 device" for free you'd feel more obliged to try and actually do something with it than if were a "$200 device". I.e.: 1. Announce a device that "will be for sale for $500" (whether or not it will be widely sold at all). 2. Give it away for free to developers. 3. The developers feel like they shouldn't waste $500 wroth of value, hence they try to develop for it. 4. Get more apps (than you would with a cheaper device). 5. Launch a cheaper device for the majority of your end users. Is this a known strategy?
zurn 13y ago
It's still quite a bit less than an iPhone or a fancy Samsung model.
zmb_ 13y ago
As a developer I see it as a cheap smartphone. Some devices that I currently have, for comparison: Samsung Galaxy S4 - 690€, Galaxy S3 - 520€, Nexus 4 - 485€. iPhones go up to almost 1k€ for the top model.
pekk 13y ago
This isn't even the same game as Firefox OS. If you expect to get a phone even similar to N9 for $50 then I don't know what to say. It is just a different market.
blub 13y ago
If you're looking to sell apps, both FF and Jolla are a bad bet I believe. If you're looking for a mobile computer like the N900 (or to a lesser extent the N9) was, then I don't think FF really qualifies...
- L4mppu 13y ago
  "The device is powered by Jolla’s Sailfish OS but can also run Android apps, giving it something of a leg up." Did you even read the article.
claudius 13y ago
I got an N9 late-ish last year for €430, so €399 doesn’t appear entirely unreasonable?

shared4you 13y ago

Yup, like one of the comments mentioned: a Chinese's salary is 600€/month so spending 400€ is exorbitant. Salaries in India and some eastern European countries are equally low. I would've bought it if it were 200 - 300€. FxOS looks promising on low-end market: my Peak is working very well so far :) I'll wait until Q4/2013 or Q1/2014 to see if they release a cheaper model. [edit: other EE countries -> some EE countries]

dreen 13y ago
For the record, India is not in Eastern Europe and the wages and quality of life here are a HELL OF A LOT better than in India. edit: but yeah, jolla is too expensive.
- adamors 13y ago
  In some Eastern European countries the average salary is below 450€/month.
  - cpursley 13y ago
    Which ones?
    - networked 13y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_in_Europe_by_monthly_average_wage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_in_Europe_by... (sort by "net $")
  - dreen 13y ago
    Well my point was that a quarter of India lives on 10€/month. But then again those people probably don't buy smartphones.
    - parimm 13y ago
      The government gives you jobs at 2EUR a day for 100 days, this is available to everyone, Your claim that a quarter of India lives on less than 10EUR a month is wrong
      - dreen 13y ago
        Its not really a claim Im just quoting wikipedia
      - Someone 13y ago
        I don't follow your logic. Let's assume the Indian government promises every citizen a EUR 2 salary for 100 days. Most people will have a working career that is much longer than that. Spreading that EUR 60 a month salary over 10,000 days (27-ish working years) is EUR 0,02 a day, a EUR 9,98 a month salary for the other 99% of their working life would bring the average close to EUR 10 a month.

veeti 13y ago

Maybe Jolla could try and lure some existing Android and iOS developers by giving out free devices. wink wink nudge

networked 13y ago
If so, then pricing their first phone higher might be a valid way to increase its perceived value among the developers who get one for free. The assumption behind it would be that if you got a "$500 device" for free you'd feel more obliged to try and actually do something with it than if were a "$200 device". I.e.: 1. Announce a device that "will be for sale for $500" (whether or not it will be widely sold at all). 2. Give it away for free to developers. 3. The developers feel like they shouldn't waste $500 wroth of value, hence they try to develop for it. 4. Get more apps (than you would with a cheaper device). 5. Launch a cheaper device for the majority of your end users. Is this a known strategy?

zurn 13y ago

It's still quite a bit less than an iPhone or a fancy Samsung model.

zmb_ 13y ago

As a developer I see it as a cheap smartphone. Some devices that I currently have, for comparison: Samsung Galaxy S4 - 690€, Galaxy S3 - 520€, Nexus 4 - 485€. iPhones go up to almost 1k€ for the top model.

pekk 13y ago

This isn't even the same game as Firefox OS. If you expect to get a phone even similar to N9 for $50 then I don't know what to say. It is just a different market.

blub 13y ago

If you're looking to sell apps, both FF and Jolla are a bad bet I believe. If you're looking for a mobile computer like the N900 (or to a lesser extent the N9) was, then I don't think FF really qualifies...

L4mppu 13y ago
"The device is powered by Jolla’s Sailfish OS but can also run Android apps, giving it something of a leg up." Did you even read the article.

claudius 13y ago

I got an N9 late-ish last year for €430, so €399 doesn’t appear entirely unreasonable?