Sprint will sell the device for $399.99 in exchange for a two-year commitment to a data service plan. Sprint will begin selling the Galaxy Tab on Nov. 14, three days after Verizon Wireless.

Verizon Wireless said last week it would sell the device for $599.99, but offered a prepaid data plan without the requirement for a contract.

For any mobile product, getting the proper marketing and subsidy support from a carrier is crucial to a successful launch. A subsidized device can dull much of the sticker shock that comes from seeing the actual retail prices. Carriers are willing to offer a discount because they can lock customers into multi-year service agreements.

Verizon Wireless’s decision to sell the product without a subsidy had some industry analysts speculating that it wouldn’t fare well against the iPad, which the carrier also plans to sell for as little as $629.99.

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But analysts aren’t so sure. In a note to clients this morning, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu wondered just how much good the AT&T (T) deal will do for Palm (PALM) given the pricing of its smartphones. The company is selling the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus for $149.99 and $49.99, respectively, with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Hardly a compelling proposition when the prices of competing devices like Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and Research in Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry are significantly lower.

“While we are pleased to see PALM expand its footprint, we are unsure how meaningful the impact will be as we believe AT&T is the most competitive carrier out there being the exclusive partner for iPhone in the U.S,” says Wu. “We believe PALM’s price points are arguably too high when one can get an iPhone 3G for $99 and a BlackBerry for as little as $9.99.”

Exactly. And beyond price, there is the issue of AT&T’s relationship to the iPhone, which has spiked both its subscriber numbers and wireless data revenue since the carrier first began peddling it. Is AT&T is going to put the Pre and Pixi out in front, given what the iPhone has done for the carrier’s financials? Does Palm’s AT&T deal include a commitment to aggressively market and sell its devices? Because it’s going to need one if it’s to compete with the iPhone on its home turf.

As Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein observed on the company’s latest earnings call, launching a pair of new smartphones on a carrier that’s already heavily invested in a hero device–as Verizon (VZ) is with Droid and AT&T is with the iPhone–is no easy task. Said Rubinstein: “If we could have launched at Verizon prior to the Droid, I think we would have gotten the attention the Droid got.”

But you didn’t. And now you’re launching on AT&T after the iPhone, a device with far greater critical mass than Droid. Why will things be any different this time around?

FURTHER READING:

• Exercise in Futility? Palm Pre Plus, Pixi Plus Headed to AT&T
• Palm: Pssst. Wanna Buy 1.15 Million Smartphones?
• Palm Pileup: Weak Smartphone Sales and a Gruesome Q4 Forecast
• Could Be Worse, Could Be Raining: Palm’s AT&T Launch Delayed?
• Could WebOS Licensing Be Palm’s Salvation?
• Palm’s Salvation? Less Push, More Pull.
• And if Palm’s Project JumpStart Doesn’t Work Out, There’s Always “Project Defibrillator”
• Double Face-Palm: Analysts React to Palm’s Lowered Guidance
• Time to Start Looking for a Buyer, Palm?
• 2010: Year of the Palm? Maybe Not…
• Analyst: Palm May Be Acquired in the Next Two Years

Sprint effectively lowered the price of the Palm Pre today to $99 for new customers only, offering a $100 service credit to those who port their numbers over from another carrier. To be eligible for the promotion, first noted by Pali Research, customers must purchase the Pre along with a two-year service agreement and abandon their current carriers. Agree to that and Sprint will apply a $100 credit to your monthly bill over a three-month period.

The offer, which begins today and runs through Oct. 10 (or Oct. 31, depending on which page of Sprint’s site you’re looking at), should goose sales, if only a bit–assuming Sprint (S) advertises the Palm (PALM) Pre offering.

“We believe sales of the Pre have been fairly stable over the past month but a price cut to $99 should stimulate sales into the end of Q3, as it would for any popular phone,” Pali Research analyst Walter Piecyk told Digital Daily. “Operators have been getting more aggressive on phone subsidies in Q3, which is likely a reflection of the maturity of the wireless industry in the United States, which is at 90 percent penetration.” (Click on image below to enlarge.)

UPDATE: Here’s the official explanation from Sprint, which seems to have resolved its internal confusion over the offer’s expiration date.

“Starting today, customers can get a $100 service credit when they move their number from another wireless carrier to a Palm Pre from Sprint and activate a new line of service with a two-year agreement. The $100 service credit will be applied to the customer’s Sprint bill within three invoices. This offer is available in to consumers and individual-liable business customers in all channels except WalMart. The offer expires Oct. 10, 2009.”

UPDATE: Sprint has cancelled the offer. You’ll find further details, here.

“Upgrade eligibility varies with each customer, but in general you will become upgrade-eligible the further you are into your service agreement. Customers can find out at att.com or in one of our stores if they are upgrade-eligible. If you are not currently eligible for an upgrade but still want iPhone 3G S, we can offer you an early upgrade price of $399 (16 GB) and $499 (32 GB).”

– AT&T’s explanation of the iPhone 3G S’s early upgrade pricing

The outcry over the $200 premium some existing iPhone 3G users must pay to upgrade to the iPhone 3G S has caused AT&T to think better of the move. The carrier this morning extended the 3G S’s so-called “standard upgrade” prices of $199 [16GB] and $299 [32GB] to existing subscribers who would have otherwise qualified for those lower prices on or before the end of September.

From Walt Mossberg’s just published review of the 3G S:

“If you already own an older iPhone, you could pay $200 more to upgrade, depending on how far along you are in your two-year service contract and how much you spend monthly. But AT&T, stung by criticism in recent days, has just decided to offer the lower, new-customer prices at launch to iPhone 3G owners eligible for upgrades at any time up to Sept. 30 of this year, even if they were originally told they’d have to pay the $200 premium.”

A savvy move from AT&T (T). Though the company won’t please anyone with an upgrade-eligibility date of October and beyond, it will certainly silence the early adopters who’ve been so vocal in their criticism of the Apple (AAPL) 3G S Upgrade Tax. And those folks are likely the most lucrative, data-heavy users anyway.

UPDATE: Here’s AT&T’s statement on the change:

An Update for our Customers

Some customers have had questions about our plans and policies for iPhone 3G S, and we’d like to provide you with answers. We’d also like to announce a change to the date when some iPhone customers are eligible for our best upgrade pricing to iPhone 3G S.

PRICING

Importantly, we want our customers to better understand our wireless device upgrade program. Like most U.S. carriers, we offer a variety of phones that we sell below our actual cost when customers agree to sign service agreements. In general, the more a customer spends with us, the quicker they become eligible for a price break on a new device. For example, iPhone customers who spend more than $99 a month per line with us generally are eligible for an upgrade between 12 and 18 months into their contract.

We also currently offer early upgrade pricing only for iPhone 3G S and iPhone 3G.

All of that said, we’ve been listening to our customers. And since many of our iPhone 3G customers are early adopters and literally weeks shy of being upgrade eligible due to iPhone 3G S launching 11 months after iPhone 3G, we’re extending the window of upgrade eligibility for a limited time.

We’re now pleased to offer our iPhone 3G customers who are upgrade eligible in July, August or September 2009 our best upgrade pricing, beginning Thursday, June 18.

If you’re one of the many customers who will benefit from this change, please note that our upgrade eligibility tools will reflect this change on Thursday, June 18.

We invite you to come to our stores beginning Friday during normal store hours, although please be aware that customer demand may exceed supply in some of our stores. You may also preorder online on June 18 at www.att.com/iPhone, and your iPhone 3G S will arrive in 7-14 days. Or you can purchase iPhone 3G S at Apple’s retail and online stores, as well as at other popular retailers.

If you’re one of the customers who benefits from this change, and you’ve already preordered from an AT&T store, we’ll adjust the price of the device when you pick it up. If you benefit from the change and you pre-ordered from AT&T online, we’ll send you an e-mail and issue you a credit.

If you pre-ordered an iPhone 3G S through Apple’s online store, your upgrade eligibility will be reassessed based on AT&T’s new upgrade policy for iPhone 3G owners. If you are eligible for the lower price, Apple will issue you a credit for the difference as applicable.

“Upgrade eligibility varies with each customer, but in general you will become upgrade-eligible the further you are into your service agreement. Customers can find out at att.com or in one of our stores if they are upgrade-eligible. If you are not currently eligible for an upgrade but still want iPhone 3G S, we can offer you an early upgrade price of $399 (16 GB) and $499 (32 GB).”

– AT&T’s explanation of the iPhone 3G S’s early upgrade pricing

The outcry over the $200 premium some existing iPhone 3G users must pay to upgrade to the iPhone 3G S has caused AT&T to think better of the move. The carrier this morning extended the 3G S’s so-called “standard upgrade” prices of $199 [16GB] and $299 [32GB] to existing subscribers who would have otherwise qualified for those lower prices on or before the end of September.

From Walt Mossberg’s just published review of the 3G S:

“If you already own an older iPhone, you could pay $200 more to upgrade, depending on how far along you are in your two-year service contract and how much you spend monthly. But AT&T, stung by criticism in recent days, has just decided to offer the lower, new-customer prices at launch to iPhone 3G owners eligible for upgrades at any time up to Sept. 30 of this year, even if they were originally told they’d have to pay the $200 premium.”

A savvy move from AT&T (T). Though the company won’t please anyone with an upgrade-eligibility date of October and beyond, it will certainly silence the early adopters who’ve been so vocal in their criticism of the Apple (AAPL) 3G S Upgrade Tax. And those folks are likely the most lucrative, data-heavy users anyway.

UPDATE: Here’s AT&T’s statement on the change:

An Update for our Customers

Some customers have had questions about our plans and policies for iPhone 3G S, and we’d like to provide you with answers. We’d also like to announce a change to the date when some iPhone customers are eligible for our best upgrade pricing to iPhone 3G S.

PRICING

Importantly, we want our customers to better understand our wireless device upgrade program. Like most U.S. carriers, we offer a variety of phones that we sell below our actual cost when customers agree to sign service agreements. In general, the more a customer spends with us, the quicker they become eligible for a price break on a new device. For example, iPhone customers who spend more than $99 a month per line with us generally are eligible for an upgrade between 12 and 18 months into their contract.

We also currently offer early upgrade pricing only for iPhone 3G S and iPhone 3G.

All of that said, we’ve been listening to our customers. And since many of our iPhone 3G customers are early adopters and literally weeks shy of being upgrade eligible due to iPhone 3G S launching 11 months after iPhone 3G, we’re extending the window of upgrade eligibility for a limited time.

We’re now pleased to offer our iPhone 3G customers who are upgrade eligible in July, August or September 2009 our best upgrade pricing, beginning Thursday, June 18.

If you’re one of the many customers who will benefit from this change, please note that our upgrade eligibility tools will reflect this change on Thursday, June 18.

We invite you to come to our stores beginning Friday during normal store hours, although please be aware that customer demand may exceed supply in some of our stores. You may also preorder online on June 18 at www.att.com/iPhone, and your iPhone 3G S will arrive in 7-14 days. Or you can purchase iPhone 3G S at Apple’s retail and online stores, as well as at other popular retailers.

If you’re one of the customers who benefits from this change, and you’ve already preordered from an AT&T store, we’ll adjust the price of the device when you pick it up. If you benefit from the change and you pre-ordered from AT&T online, we’ll send you an e-mail and issue you a credit.

If you pre-ordered an iPhone 3G S through Apple’s online store, your upgrade eligibility will be reassessed based on AT&T’s new upgrade policy for iPhone 3G owners. If you are eligible for the lower price, Apple will issue you a credit for the difference as applicable.