Samsung Begins Slashing Galaxy Gear Price Ahead of Gear 2 Debut

With rumors that Samsung may be launching its second smartwatch, speculated to be called the Galaxy Gear 2, alongside a highly anticipated flagship Galaxy S5 debut this spring, the company is now discounting its original Galaxy Gear by over $120.

At this time, however, VR-Zone is reporting that the price cut is only for India, though it may be likely that Samsung will be bringing discounts to cover other regions in the world.

READ: Samsung Galaxy Gear Review

Though the Galaxy Gear debuted with a plethora of features that made it stand out from competing smartwatches on the market last fall when it came out alongside the Galaxy Note 3 phablet, the device was greeted with lukewarm reviews. A high $300 price tag in the U.S., clunky user interface, and at the time limited compatibility with Samsung’s newest phablet and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition made it an expensive investment.

 

The Gear was later updated with additional features and support for more Galaxy phones.

However, if Samsung does discount the smartwatch to about $200, knocking a similar $100 in the States as it did in India, the Gear would be more competitively priced against rivals like Pebble’s original smartwatch at $150 and Sony’s SmartWatch 2 at $200.

With the Galaxy S5 now believed to be introduced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month, it is likely that a Galaxy Gear 2 may be introduced at that venue if earlier speculations hold true.

Samsung’s Gear 2 will be met with an even more crowded field of competitors this year when the device will finally be announced. Pebble introduced a sleeker Pebble Steel watch that has a steel band to resemble a more traditional watch while Apple is rumored to be working on its own iWatch for this year. Most recently, analysts are speculating that Apple may price the iWatch at $300, or the same price that Samsung initially debuted the Galaxy Gear at. Rival LG is also rumored to be working on its own wearable device.

Samsung had previously stated that the Galaxy Gear will be the first of a line of wearable devices that the company will be introducing in the future.