Verizon Wireless Drops Price of Touch Pro and Other Smartphones to $99; Touch Pro 2 Coming Soon

Good news for those back to school shoppers looking for great deals. Verizon Wireless has dropped the price of the HTC Touch Pro to only $99 with a new 2 year contract (original price was $400+). Most other smartphones are now priced here as well, with the exception of the new BlackBerry Tour and Samsung Saga.

Now, the truth of the matter is that Verizon’s phones and plans have always been more expensive than some of the other wireless carriers out there. So, that’s why this price drop is so surprising. Or is it really?

It seems to some people that Verizon is just trying to clear out its inventory for new phones that are due to come out late 3rd quarter. The one phone that is already confirmed to come out is the HTC Touch Pro 2. In addition, the BlackBerry Storm 2 is also expected to drop, although everyone at Verizon has been keeping mum on the release date. Our sources suspect the phone will come out in October – early 4th quarter, just in time for Christmas shopping season. Additional rumored phones include Android devices and of course, the iPhone, which always tops the list of rumors when talking about up-and-coming Verizon Wireless smartphones.

Also, let’s not forget that Verizon just shortened their exclusivity deals with manufactures to allow smaller carriers to have the same phones sooner. This response came after some heavy questioning by FCC on carrier-exclusivity deals on popular top-notch handsets. By lowering the price, Verizon might be trying to seem favorable in the eyes of people who are on other wireless carrier networks.