AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint to offer Samsung Galaxy S II in Sept. - Verizon MIA

AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T), Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) and T-Mobile USA will begin selling the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy S II in September, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal citing unnamed sources. The gadget will go for $199 (likely with a service contract), starting first with a WiMAX version for Sprint.

Samsung Galaxy S II for AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile

Samsung's Galaxy S II

However, Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ)--the nation's largest wireless carrier--will not sell the device, according to the report.

"We have an extensive portfolio that offers customers a great variety of devices, including the Samsung Droid Charge," Brenda Raney, a Verizon Wireless spokeswoman, told the Wall Street Journal, without providing details.

Raney's statement could be an indication that Verizon isn't snubbing Samsung as a handset supplier but is instead focusing its efforts on its growing lineup of LTE smartphones. Verizon currently sells three LTE phones--the HTC Thunderbolt, the Samsung Charge and the LG Revolution--and is heavily hyping the gadgets as providing speeds "twice as fast as any AT&T smartphone." Verizon, which first launched LTE service in December 2010, said its LTE network now covers more than 160 million POPs, which is more than half of the U.S. population. Verizon advertises the network as providing average download speeds of 5-12 Mbps.

Samsung has scheduled a press event Aug. 29 where it will announce a version of its Galaxy S II smartphone for the U.S. market. Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S II in February, and currently sells it in Europe and elsewhere--the company in July reported it sold 5 million Galaxy S II handsets after less than three months of availability.

In related news, the website Samsung Hub reported Samsung is planning to release an LTE-capable version of the Galaxy S II at the IFA trade show next week, likely for the European market.

Samsung's Galaxy S II--a follow-up to the Galaxy S that Samsung launched across virtually all of the nation's major wireless carriers last year--appears poised to be the most prominent challenger to the forthcoming iPhone 5. Although Apple  (NASDAQ:AAPL) hasn't confirmed it will sell a new iPhone this year, various reports indicate the phone will go on sale in October as a world phone, supporting both CDMA and GSM networks, and that it will ship through AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.

For more:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
- see this Samsung Hub article

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