Verizon Wireless undercuts Cingular with cheaper phones

The heated battle between rivals Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. edged up a notch as Verizon Wireless cut its prices on several handsets recently introduced by Cingular.
Just days after Cingular introduced the Palm Inc. Treo 750 for $400, Verizon Wireless lowered its prices on several of its Treo models. At Verizon, the Treo 700p with or without a camera is selling at $300, down from $400 the previous week. The Treo 700w plummeted to $250 from $400.
According to Current Analysis, the Treo 750 helps Cingular fill out its wireless broadband smartphone portfolio and it may appeal to business users looking for a Windows Mobile Pocket PC edition smartphone. But the analyst firm suggested that the $400 price may not be competitive. Verizon may well be hoping to capitalize on that point by dropping the prices on its own Treos.
And just days after Cingular introduced Motorola Inc.’s Krzr for $200, Verizon Wireless halved its Krzr price to $100 from $200. Verizon Wireless also dropped the price for its Moto Q to $100 from $200, a price drop that comes shortly after Sprint Nextel Corp.’s introduction of the Q. Sprint Nextel is currently selling the Q for $200.
Interestingly, Motorola is announcing its fourth quarter 2006 earnings tomorrow and is expected to report a high volume of units shipped last year, but with weaker than anticipated profits.
Financial analyst Albert Lin, with American Technology Research, said yesterday that the ongoing popularity and low prices on the Motorola Razr may have produced “internal competition” to the Krzr, designed as a high-priced successor, perhaps leading to price cuts on the Krzr.