A Royal Flush For The Samsung Galaxy S? Tweet

In the U.S., the choicest smart phones usually get tied up for months in exclusive carrier deals as operators seek to lure new subscribers to their services. As a high-profile, new, feature-packed handset, Samsung's Galaxy S seemed a likely candidate for an operator exclusive. But at least one well-placed analyst believes the phone will come to all four of the largest U.S. carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile USA, Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless) this year.

In an Apr. 13 research note, Broadpoint.AmTech analyst Mark McKechnie said he expects the Galaxy S to be sold at AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint before the end of June and to be picked up at Verizon "sometime later in the year". In an interview, McKechnie said he based the prediction on "industry checks" that include, but are not limited to, conversations with employees at operator stores. A Samsung spokeswoman declined to comment on carrier availability for the Galaxy S.

Such a strategy would be a break with the tightly controlled way other high-end smart phones go on sale. Consider the HTC "Droid Incredible," a much-anticipated phone that will debut later this month on Verizon or the HTC EVO, which will be available only on Sprint when it launches, likely in June. Other examples include the Palm Pre, which was limited to Sprint for the first seven months of its availability, the iPhone, which remains tied to AT&T nearly three years after its introduction, and the Motorola Droid and BlackBerry Storm 2, which are unique to Verizon in the U.S.

McKechnie says the Galaxy S' broad distribution could mean no one operator was enthralled enough by the handset to lock it up as an exclusive. "It's a pretty impressive Android-based phone with a great display, but Samsung doesn't have the same brand strength as Apple or even Motorola," he says. Alternately, it could signal that several carriers were interested and Samsung accelerated its usual go-to-market strategy to deliver the phone to as many partners as possible.

Both approaches carry risks. While exclusives are usually synonymous with a large operator investment in marketing and subsidizing a particular phone, they can crimp sales by tying a device's fortunes to those of a particular carrier. Palm chief executive Jon Rubinstein has said the company's exclusive deal with Sprint for the Pre hindered the phone's later sales at Verizon.

Samsung has a lot riding on the Galaxy S. Though the company ranks as the No. 2 global supplier of cellphones overall, it lags Nokia, Research In Motion, Apple and HTC in smart phone sales. Samsung has said it aims to triple its smart phone shipments this year.

Early results look promising. McKechnie believes Samsung gained market share and boosted the average selling price of its phones in the first quarter of 2010. During the same period, phone sales from LG Electronics and Sony Ericsson probably declined while industry leader Nokia likely held steady or gained slightly, says McKechnie.

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