The recently unveiled iPhone look alike from HTC the One A9 is now up for pre-orders and will be available in the US starting November 7. Though there’s some ambiguity over its pricing in the US compared to other parts of the world. As the $399.99 price tag, the device gets in the US is apparently a promotional pre-sale incentive, though it’ll actually cost $499.99 when it launches.
HTC issued an official statement yesterday, in which the company says that the price of the device will go up by $100 starting November 7. In addition, the company also added in the official statement that the promotional pre-sale price will no longer be effective as soon as the device reaches all major retailers for purchase.
“The One A9 price in the US is a very limited-time promotional offer for that region’s online store, as well as select HTC-only franchise stores. The offer is a special promotional pre-sale and is expected to conclude once the One A9 is available on-shelf at major retail and distributor partners. After the promotional pre-sale offer ends, the new price in the US at htc.com will be $499.99 beginning 12:01 am on 11/7,” an HTC spokesperson confirmed.
The Taiwanese manufacturer also gave reasons for such a massive difference in One A9’s price in other regions of the world. The company says that regional representatives can set their own pricing given the context of their local market.
“The cost of the HTC One A9 is the same worldwide to all distributors and operator partners. For end consumers, HTC’s sales regions are given the freedom to set prices and promotions as they see fit for local market needs,” added HTC.
As far as specs are concerned, the device gets a 5-inch Full HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 671 processor bundled with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable memory while optics includes a 13MP primary camera along with a 4MP selfie cam. Hence, it would’ve been a rather good mid-range device had the One A9 did not get a sudden $100 price hike. Moreover, it could’ve compensated for the controversy over smartphone’s design being similar to the iPhone.
