Sim Free Price of BlackBerry Torch Revealed

Research in Motion (RIM) has been getting the mobile community excited about its brand new sliding BlackBerry smartphone, known as the Torch and now an online retailer has hinted at its sim free price.

The BlackBerry Torch will be shipping for the princely sum of £570, according to retailer Expansys. It will go on sale from the 1st of October, which means that it will be ideally positioned to take advantage of the Christmas shopping period.

It is important to note that, for the time being, this £570 price point is to be taken with a pinch of salt, because at £570 sim free, the BlackBerry Torch is just a hair cheaper than the top of the line iPhone 4 32GB.

Observers expect to see this fall as RIM confirms its final RRP, with recent reports suggesting that the cost of manufacturing the Torch is around £120, making it cheaper to produce than the iPhone 4. RIM is likely to pass on these savings to the consumer once the sim free version of the Torch arrives in order to remain competitive.

The BlackBerry Torch does not, as yet, have the commitment of any of the UK network providers, so it could be that sim only users looking for a smartphone to house their new sim cards may choose to pay the up-front costs and avoid the hassle of a long term commitment.

The launch of the Torch in the US saw around 100,000 sell within the first couple of days, and although this smartphone packs a brand new operating system and an improved touch screen interface, those in the know have said that RIM would have been looking for better sales at the launch of such a significant product.

In other BlackBerry news, the Curve 3G 9300 is now available sim free for £260, offering a cheaper option for email and messaging lovers.