Buyer beware: Black Friday smartphone deals not so hot

AT&T is trying to get rid of phones such as the HTC Vivid for 99 cents; Sprint is dumping the Galaxy Victory for free; and Verizon is offering the original Droid Razr -- its hit phone from a year ago -- also as a giveaway. The Lumia 900, which has been rendered nearly useless with the release of the newer and incompatible Windows Phone 8 devices (including the Lumia 920), is another bad deal.

The only area where the deals make a difference is with prepaid carriers. With no contracts and monthly rates that are typically more competitive, the extra savings on the phone make a difference. Virgin Mobile, for example, is taking $70 off of the Galaxy S II 4G and $100 off of the HTC Evo V 4G.

So as you put on your bargain hunter's cap and prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, be extra critical when you look at smartphones. You'll be glad you did.

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Get a Free Smartphone During T-Mobile's Two-Day Pre-Holiday Sale

If you're in the market for a new T-Mobile smartphone, you might be better off waiting a couple of days to buy one.

On Friday and Saturday, the carrier is holding a pre-Black Friday rush sale, offering Samsung 4G smartphones for free, with qualifying plans.

For a change, even folks unwilling to wait in a mile-long line at 4 a.m. the morning after stuffing themselves with turkey and cranberry sauce can take advantage of this deal, T-Mobile said.

"If getting a great deal on your gift purchases is important, and you prefer to limit your time in holiday checkout lines, then this T-Mobile promotional offer could be for you," Andrew Sherrard, senior vice president of T-Mobile marketing, said in a statement.

The company is pitching its Samsung promotion to families who want everyone under the roof to have a cell phone, but can't afford to buy as many as five handsets.

Samsung Galaxy S III (T-Mobile)

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Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone sales pass 30 million

Samsung said Monday that it has sold more than 30 million flagship Galaxy S III smartphones in about five months, making it one of the fastest selling smartphones in the world.

Samsung, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, launched the smartphone at the end of May, months before competitors began shipping the latest versions of their top phones.

When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 in September, Samsung launched an advertising campaign poking fun at the new iPhone.

The South Korean firm said the Galaxy S III is selling at a much faster rate than its predecessor announced a year ago, the Galaxy S II. The Galaxy S II took 14 months to hit 30 million sales. Sales of the Galaxy Note II, which fills a market niche between smartphones and tablets, surpassed 3 million in 37 days, Samsung said last week.

The runaway demand for high-end smartphones fueled record profits at Samsung in recent quarters while other consumer electronics firms were hit by the global economic downturn that dented demand for TVs and personal computers.

Samsung, which also makes TVs, home appliances, semiconductors and display panels, got almost 70 percent of its third-quarter operating profit from the division that makes mobile devices, cameras and computers.

Nomura Financial Investment in Seoul forecasts that Samsung will sell 67 million smartphones in the October-December quarter. That would be about 10 million units more than Samsung's smartphone sales in the previous quarter.

Samsung does not disclose its quarterly smartphone sales figures, but analysts and research firms say the company sold a record 56-58 million smartphones in July-September.

Nomura, which is more optimistic about Samsung's prospects than other forecasters, says Samsung's mobile communications business will post 5 percent growth in fourth quarter profit from the third quarter, thanks to the high-end phones 

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