Sun Cellular recently released their pricing scheme for their BlackBerry handsets. Before we go into postpaid kit comparisons, I wanted to check which supplier offered the most affordable standalone package. I checked Sun, Globe, Smart, and another online store to compare their prices and the data is very interesting. The gray market online store is still the most affordable offering the Bold 9700 at just P22,000 and the Curve 8520 at P12,500. The only setback is that the unit has a foreign telco logo stamped on it but it’s not too noticeable. Here are the prices:

*Smart isn’t offering the Bold 9700 as a standalone unit based on their site

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now but do you think the telcos and the official dealers of BlackBerry locally are doing anything about gray market sellers? Because when it comes down to price the official outlets can’t beat the gray market. Before it was hard to get goods from that part of town but because of the internet it’s so easy now to get access to them.

Entry on postpaid plan comparisons to follow tomorrow.