Rumor: $200 Galaxy Note-like HP Android smartphone to launch “as soon as next week”

The CES 2014 event may be over, but that doesn’t mean we’re done with new product announcements, as HP is rumored once again to launch its first Android phone soon.

This time around it appears that sources within HP have talked to 9to5Google telling the publication that an HP Android handset that will resemble Samsung’s Galaxy Note will be launched “as soon as next week” with a price of around $200 – that’s the unlocked price of the handset.

The device will be primarily aimed at prepaid and emerging markets, although the publication isn’t actually mentioning any specific countries at this time. The phone reportedly looks like the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note “with obvious cost cutting measures to get the device down to the $200 price point.”

Interestingly, this rumor seems to echo what The Information said late last year, although that report wasn’t completely accurate – the publication claimed that HP would launch 6- to 7-inch smartphones by the end of the year and that didn’t happen. However, it may have been right about the size of the smartphone(s), especially considering that a recent Bluetooth SIG may have betrayed the name of the device, the HP Slate 6 Voice Tab.

That said, we’ll be looking forward to seeing HP’s first budget Android smartphone become reality. We already know the company wants to make smartphones of its own, and we already know it can sells affordable tablets.

Anyone excited to see an affordable Galaxy Note rival made by HP?

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