ZTE Grand S expected to be priced at $642 in China

AndiJanuary 11, 2013

Now that we know all about the ZTEGrand S sped, design and function, we are now getting to the nitty-gritty of price, with sources in China claiming it could cost as high as 3998 Yuan.

When we first saw details and leaked photos of the ZTEGrand S, reports offered the 6.9mm thin, quad-corephone could go on sale for as low as 2700 Yuan ($434), but now after being officially unveiled those price estimates have risen considerably.

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New information suggests the ZTEGrand S will go on sale later this month across China for the higher price of 3998 Yuan or roughly $642!

Although the high price isn’t all that unexpected now we know what the S is packing (5-inch 1080p display, 13-mega-pixel Sony Exmor camera sensor, quad-core Qualcomm CPU and 2GB RAM), it seems strange for ZTE to price the Grand S higher than their recently launched flagship Nubia phone.

ZTE’s Nubia brand was meant to be the companies chance distance itself from its budget phone persona here in China, however with the ZTE branded Grand S now costing more than the Nubia Z5, we can only wonder what ZTE are playing at!

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Andi

ivan
January 11, 2013
$642 for low battery and thinnest profile? I would rather have 3000++ mAH battery with slightly thicker at similar price.

January 11, 2013
I hear the warning bells a-ringing !!
The makers are showing signs of being obsessed with building simply what they can build and not what their public wants them to build.
Much as I like the inclusion of a 13Mpix camera … 8Mpix will do the job very well. After all there are plenty of excellent applications that can improve a picture in a PC or even in the camera/phone.
My personal magnifying glass test of my smartphone screen suggests that whilst any 1080+ screen is exciting … lower screens will more than do the job.
In the ‘real world’ … price/performance is what’s important – not product perfection.
I seriously begin to doubt the worth of spending hundreds of ££££ on a product whose physical properties the worth of it practical capabilities.
We all know that we can build rockets to take us to the Moon – but how many of us actually NEED to make that journey ?
- January 11, 2013
  Hi Millgate, I think you might be missing the point.
  Sure this phone is expensive and features functions a lot of users don’t want/need, and for that ZTE and others have different phones in their range.
  If ZTE and others didn’t launch flagship phones like this, pushing the envelope of design and innovation then we would all be stuck in the past using “dumb phones”.
  This tech will eventually filter down in to cheaper phones as the year continues and prices drop. Just look at last year and the number of low-core 720 HD phones which launched as proof of that.

millgate
January 11, 2013
Hmmm … Sorry about the typos in my earlier post. Here’s another plea for an edit function … and here’s the corrected version !!
I hear the warning bells a-ringing !!
The makers are showing signs of being obsessed with building simply what they can build and not what their public wants them to build.
Much as I like the inclusion of a 13Mpix camera … 8Mpix will do the job very well. After all there are plenty of excellent applications that can improve a picture in a PC or even in the camera/phone.
My personal magnifying glass test of my smartphone screen suggests that whilst any 1080+ screen is exciting … lower screens will more than do the job.
In the ‘real world’ … price/performance is what’s important – not product perfection.
I seriously begin to doubt the worth of spending hundreds of ££££ on a product whose physical properties exceed the need for it’s practical capabilities.
We all know that we can build rockets to take us to the Moon – but how many of us actually NEED to make that journey ?

kerob
January 11, 2013
Am I the only one that is seeing this “lets sell our phones at outrageous prices too” trend from these Chinese phone makers lately?
- January 11, 2013
  I wouldn’t say this was an outrageous price. The ZTE Grand S at this price is still cheaper than the iPhone 5 is here in China, but look at the Grand S specs compared to the iPhone!
  In China phones are sold off-contract so we don’t get any carriers savings. This also means our phone bills are a lot less too 😉
  So actually the Grand S at 4000 Yuan isn’t that bad, the HTC M7 will likely be 5500 Yuan and Galaxy S3 is still around the 4000 mark.
Stefan
January 11, 2013
It is nearly an unbelivible price for a chinese phone. Andi, do you have good sources for this? This is as higher as the Nubia price…wtf.
- - Stefan
    January 12, 2013
    Hey Andi, I am in Beijing end of march and will (maybe) buy a Grand S and a Nubia for my girlfriend. Ir is possible to buy these phones in physical shops or just online? This is a realy important information for me because I can not understand chinese web pages. Thanks and well done.

njren
January 11, 2013
Yes, “outrageous” and “unbelievable”, because Chinese companies aren’t supposed to be aspirational and are only allowed to sell low-end, poorly designed, no-name phones at ridiculously cheap prices. And because only non-Chinese companies are allowed to profit handsomely (or outrageously in some cases) from their work. And because Chinese factory workers are cheap to hire and should never expect rising salaries to keep pace with the real cost of living in their own country.
- Stefan
  January 12, 2013
  That is not what I want to say. The price of the phone is nearly the dobble of what a standard chinese worker earns in two months. Therefore I expected a lower proce in china and a more higher international price (like USA)
xlr
February 1, 2013