Amazon.com reprised its 1-penny sale, offering four Verizon Wireless Droid models and more than 100 other phones for $0.01 each with a two-year contract and a $35 credit for the activation fee.
The Droid Incredible, Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid 2 and the new Motorola Droid Pro are available through Monday for $0.01 from AmazonWireless.com here.
The kicker is the deal is only good for new Verizon Wireless customers from Nov. 19 through Nov. 22.
Amazon and Verizon have also agreed to wipe out the $35 activation fee for each line of service activated on a new plan purchased from AmazonWireless.com.
Curiously, while the 1-penny phones are only available through Nov.22, the activation fee credit is available from Nov. 19 through Nov. 29.
What will consumers save with the 1-penny phones? A lot. The Droid Incredible, Droid X and Droid 2, which received high marks from eWEEK reviewers, all launched with a retail price of $199 with a contract.
The Android 2.2-based Droid Pro, intended for business users worldwide, retails for $179.99 with a two-year deal.
Though eWEEK found the QWERTY keyboard lacking, this handset will appeal to business users who want a change from RIM BlackBerry without losing the speedy texting capability.
It’s a bargain and a good hook to lure new customers to Verizon’s leading wireless network, which has more than 93 million subscribers in the United States.
Of course, Verizon’s money is made in the data and service plans. Consumers must agree to subscribe to one of six talk and text plans and two data service plans.
The base talk/text plan is the Verizon Wireless Nationwide Single Line Talk & Text 450 deal for $59.99 per month. The high-end plan is a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Single Line Talk & Text Unlimited plan for $89.99 a month.
The data service plans include the Unlimited PDA/Smartphone Web Browsing and Email agreement for $29.99. Users may also procure the same plan with corporate data access for $44.99 per month.
The Droid offer, timed before Black Friday and which kicks off the holiday sales season in earnest, isn’t the first or only such AmazonWireless fire sale.
CNN Money.com said Amazon began the quick-fix dealing back in August by slashing the T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant cost to 1 cent.
A quick trip to the AmazonWireless homepage revealed almost 140 smartphones and feature phones for $0.01 from all major U.S. carriers.
They include several RIM BlackBerry devices, the HTC Hero phone from Sprint, the T-Mobile myTouch Slide and the Samsung Captivate from AT&T.