The problem with the $25 handsets is that they are unusable abysmal pieces of junk. I've used an $80 Android and it was impossibly horrible. The 520 is pretty neat and performs well. My daughter has one.

I'm one for Android though so I settled for a Moto G 8Gb which is just about the lowest price Android handset that actually works properly.

    >At that cost, the licensing fees eat up a significant chunk of profit. 

There is no longer a license fee for devices with screens under 9 inches for Windows.

Where can you get a $25 Android handset?

AliExpress, though the listings might be lying.

$50 is a more reasonable ceiling: http://www.aliexpress.com/category/5090301/mobile-phones.htm...

That said, from everything I've heard they're almost unusable.

Sorry, got the £$ conversion the wrong way round! It's easy to find £40 handsets (no contract) in the UK. See http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/phone/alcatel/alcatel-pop-c...

Is it shitty? No, not if it's your first smartphone. Or it's the most convenient way to read Wikipedia / play Angry Birds.

I too am interested. The cheapest I was able to find (and one that is almost definitely a terrible phone) is here on DX.com[1] and is still $44.55.

[1] http://www.dx.com/p/m-h0rse-9500mini-w-e08-sc7710-android-4-...