Verizon Will Offers Free Windows Phone 8 Smartphone By End Of Year, Contract Required

Verizon Wireless will launch a 100 percent free Windows Phone 8 device before the end of 2012.

News of the free device which has yet to be named comes just as Verizon begins to sell Nokia and HTC devices that carry the Windows Phone 8 OS.

Based on its new plan of attack Windows Phone 8 devices will range for free to $199. Each device will require a two-year contract with data connectivity to take advantage of bargain basement pricing.

A Verizon executive tells The Verve that “ultimately before the end of the year we will have a device that comes in at the free point.”

Verizon Wireless has not yet revealed which device will be offered at no upfront cost. Verizon previously announced a $199 price point for HTC’s Windows Phone 8X and a $99 price point for Nokia’s Lumia 822. At this time the only major device manufacturer with a Windows Phone 8 device on the way is Samsung with its Ativ Odyssey smartphone.

Given Samsung’s immense popularity thanks to the Galaxy S series Verizon and Microsoft could take advantage of the company’s name recognition to score major sales in the entry-level smartphone market.

With only a handful of weeks left in 2012 we expect an official announcement from Verizon in the next few weeks.

Would you be willing to pick up an entry level Windows Phone 8 smartphone if it was free on a two-year contract?