T-Mobile Drops Price Of Galaxy Tab To $349

T-Mobile has lowered the retail price of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. When the device went on sale in November, T-Mobile offered it with an "instant discount" of $200, dropping the full retail price of $599 to $399. T-Mobile recently added a web-only discount of $50, lowering the price further to $349. This price point requires a new two-year data plan contract.

If you're looking for the lowest out-of-pocket expense at the register for the Galaxy Tab, it appears as though T-Mobile is the way to go. Sprint is charging $399 for the Tab with a two-year contract or $599 with no contract. Verizon Wireless is charging $599 with no contract, and AT&T is charging $649 with no contract. Of course, factoring in data plans for the Tab alters the total cost of ownership dramatically.

The price drop for the Tab at T-Mobile went into effect at some point in the last week. So far, T-Mobile's competitors haven't matched its sale price with sales of their own. Sale prices are commonplace during the holidays, though a price drop on a device that debuted just a month ago is worrisome.

Samsung announced earlier this month that it had sold over one million Galaxy Tabs worldwide. The only insight on where those devices have been sold is the 100,000 units that Samsung said it shipped in its home market of Korea. The U.S. network operators haven't shared their Galaxy Tab sales data.

In addition to the Tab's price drop, T-Mobile has also cut $50 from the price of the Samsung Galaxy S smartphone, the Vibrant. It now sells for $149 at retail with a new contract, down from $199.

By way of comparison, Apple's iPad enjoyed a one-day-only sale on Black Friday, when Apple cut the price of the 16GB model from $499 to $458. It's highly unlikely Apple will offer savings on the iPad again.