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Czech Carrier Dumps iPhone Over Apple's 'Business Terms'

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Apr 12, 2001
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Bloomberg briefly reports that Czech carrier Telefonica/O2 has apparently announced that it will cease selling all iPhone models, objecting to Apple's "business terms".
Telefonica Czech Republic AS won't sell Apple's new iPhone 4S and will end sales of all Apple's models because of Apple's business terms, Hospodarske Noviny reported, citing Telefonica's local spokesman Hany Farghali.
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No additional details on the reasons behind the fall-out have been made available in the Bloomberg report, and the original report from the Czech newspaper does not yet appear to be available online.

Dow Jones Newswires reported last week that Telefonica Czech Republic AS and Apple were still trying to reach a deal for the iPhone 4S, talks that have apparently ended without an agreement being reached.
"We haven't agreed with Apple on mutually acceptable conditions yet," Hany Farghali told Dow Jones Newswires in a telephone interview.

...

Telefonica Czech, majority owned by Spain's Telefonica SA (TEF), is unlikely to add the iPhone 4S model to its pre-holiday offering, said a person familiar with the local mobile market who asked to remain anonymous.

Instead, the company will focus on already much higher volume sales of smart phones based on rival operating systems, including Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android and Nokia Corp.'s (NOK) Symbian.
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Telefonica is not the only iPhone carrier in the Czech Republic, as both Vodafone and T-Mobile are also offering the device through their Czech units. Consequently, customers looking to obtain the iPhone in the country will still have options, but Telefonica's departure is an interesting one given the efforts other carriers around the world are making to win the right to offer the device.

Article Link: Czech Carrier Dumps iPhone Over Apple's 'Business Terms'
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/11/02/czech-carrier-dumps-iphone-over-apples-business-terms/
*LTD*

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
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Their loss. iPhone demand is exploding. The Christmas quarter will bear this out. Those wanting one will simply look elsewhere.
 
acidfast7

acidfast7

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Nov 22, 2008
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LOL, when will Americans realize that one doesn't need an operator to have an iP4s outside of the US (unlike in the Us where one can't really get a prepaid uSIM card from any major carrier).

Most people will just buy an unlocked/unbranded/unsubsidized iP4s directly from Apple and drop in any prepaid uSIM that they want to use from any carrier.

Why is this even news?

*LTD* said:
Their loss. iPhone demand is exploding. The Christmas quarter will bear this out. Those wanting one will simply look elsewhere.
Click to expand...

I don't know, I see many more Samsung Galaxy S2s than I do iP3/4s. I also see many people wanting and willing to pay for 4G/LTE.
 
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,024
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The timing does seem puzzling. I'm guessing it's the high subsidies. I'm surprised they mentioned Symbian, since even Nokia is abandoning it, though I have heard that the Lumia 800 Windows Phone device is getting some good press in Europe.

I seriously doubt Telefonica will drop the iPhone in other markets like the UK, though.

----------
acidfast7 said:
I don't know, I see many more Samsung Galaxy S2s than I do iP3/4s. I also see many people wanting and willing to pay for 4G/LTE.
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Does the Czech Republic have any LTE networks yet? There are only 35 operating worldwide, and the largest is in the US (Verizon).
 
W

World Citizen

macrumors regular
Feb 21, 2011
168
1
Instead, the company will focus on already much higher volume sales of smart phones based on rival operating systems, including Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android and Nokia Corp.'s (NOK) Symbian.
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It all gets down to this...

They don't get the fact that support is the most costly thing there is.

They can sell millions of phones but they will get more support. They won't give the support the costumer needs... because they will send them to the manufacturer of the phone... And they don't support them because the phone is operator branded...

The usual costumer wil fall for this maybe twice, but the they don't want this anymore... and will change providers or will change manufacturers...

Eventually Apple wins...
 
iJon

iJon

macrumors 604
Feb 7, 2002
6,586
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acidfast7 said:
LOL, when will Americans realize that one doesn't need an operator to have an iP4s outside of the US (unlike in the Us where one can't really get a prepaid uSIM card from any major carrier).

Most people will just buy an unlocked/unbranded/unsubsidized iP4s directly from Apple and drop in any prepaid uSIM that they want to use from any carrier.

Why is this even news?



I don't know, I see many more Samsung Galaxy S2s than I do iP3/4s. I also see many people wanting and willing to pay for 4G/LTE.
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I guess it depends on different regions.

I'm here in Singapore at the moment and all I'm seeing on the MRT is iPhone's, LOTS of them.

Noticed it in Bangkok too on the BTS, but only wealthier people use it. MRT is much more common in Singapore so I felt it was more significant.
 
acidfast7

acidfast7

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Nov 22, 2008
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KPOM said:
Does the Czech Republic have any LTE networks yet? There are only 35 operating worldwide, and the largest is in the US (Verizon).
Click to expand...

Verizon is not the largest by customer base, area covered or speed. It's the largest in the US, but that isn't saying much. Areas that have usable 4G/LTE don't have a lot of iP users.
 
P

paul4339

macrumors 65816
Sep 14, 2009
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We don't know what the details of the business terms are ...

BUT, Verizon and Sprint are examples of much bigger companies that dealt with Apple. Both suffered by not carrying the iphone and in the end eventually settled.


.
 
acidfast7

acidfast7

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Nov 22, 2008
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iJon said:
I guess it depends on different regions.

I'm here in Singapore at the moment and all I'm seeing on the MRT is iPhone's, LOTS of them.

Noticed it in Bangkok too on the BTS, but only wealthier people use it. MRT is much more common in Singapore so I felt it was more significant.
Click to expand...

In Stockholm, I don't see so many. That's probably because of the other options available.
 
J

JiriKolarik

macrumors newbie
Nov 2, 2011
2
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LTE in Czech Republic?:D That's sounds like a joke.. No, we haven't LTE. And O2 still support Apple users (I have O2 and iP4)
 
A

apolloa

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Oct 21, 2008
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Time, because it rules EVERYTHING!
Oooohhhh, I wonder if that is O2 worldwide? Because if it is then this WILL impact Apple's sales as O2 is massive, in the UK it's one of the most major carriers and constantly advertises, so it's actually Apple's loss. And O2 will still continue to sell, and if a group as big as them have stated Apple's business terms are not goo, then that is most certainly possibly stating something bad about Apple and it's demands, and it's not the first time we've heard that!
 
P

pruzicka

macrumors newbie
Nov 2, 2011
2
0
Bit surprising...

...before X-mass season and taken into the fact, that Apple devices are trendy here. On the other hand Apple gear (iPhone is not exception) are quite expensive for "average" Czech customer.

It's just not worth the effort from O2 to have this phone if it's that expensive, they need volume and they could sell loads of HTC & Samsung. But whoever wants and needs could buy iPhone from apple.cz directly now.
 
O

objc

macrumors regular
Mar 14, 2007
160
26
It's not a huge deal in Europe. They wisely standardized on GSM so you just need an factory unlocked or unlocked/jailbroken device. Insert the SIM card and you're set. I'm sure many of their users will do just that. It would be great if we had a simple rule here in the U.S. where carriers had to unlock devices once you were done with a contract, especially with the new dual mode 4S. It won't hurt the carrier like it would in the U.S.

Regarding demand, I hear from a lot of Android users that they aren't happy with the device. Complaints I hear are slow and unpolished. And I am by no means an Apple fanboy (check my previous posts). iPhone is still a big deal. I haven't heard first hand of anyone moving away from Apple, but I've heard of quite a few going the opposite way.
 
J

JiriKolarik

macrumors newbie
Nov 2, 2011
2
0
iPhone 4S 16GB prices in Czech Republic
780USD - unlocked from Apple store
620USD - T-mobile with 2 years contract and 65USD/month..
 
F

Formul

macrumors member
Jan 29, 2010
99
0
Czech Republic
this particular carrier had so high prices that it was just stupid to buy from them anyway ... even subsidized prices were ridiculously high

and no we dont have any LTE coverage and pretty spotty 3G to begin with
 
arkmannj

arkmannj

macrumors 68000
Oct 1, 2003
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Apple just needs to buy some telecoms and start offering its own service.
They could kill voice service and basically make it just a data service (VOIP for phone calls)
 
P

pekova

macrumors newbie
May 22, 2009
7
0
in the czech republic carriers have got hidden cartel, and they all offer the same for the same money, you can not choose.
and we do not have any virtual operator, since our operators do not want him to embark on its network
 
NightFox

NightFox

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May 10, 2005
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apolloa said:
Oooohhhh, I wonder if that is O2 worldwide? Because if it is then this WILL impact Apple's sales as O2 is massive, in the UK it's one of the most major carriers and constantly advertises, so it's actually Apple's loss. And O2 will still continue to sell, and if a group as big as them have stated Apple's business terms are not goo, then that is most certainly possibly stating something bad about Apple and it's demands, and it's not the first time we've heard that!
Click to expand...

O2 exists in quite a few different countries, but is effectively run as different companies with no connection apart from the name, branding, and Telefonica ownership. No reason why this is going to have an impact in other countries where O2 has a presence.
 
Wicked1

Wicked1

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Apr 13, 2009
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I guess Apple was trying to squeeze them into a Sprint like deal and they backed down.

It really will not matter because in time, the iPhone will be highly sought after no matter where you are, and the fact is, those carriers who do not carry will eventually suffer subscriber loss, maybe not as much in the Europe since Unlocked and pre paid sim cards are popular.
 
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