German Carrier Paying 600 Euro Bonus for iPhone Switchers

[MacRumors]

With the new unlocked 999 euro iPhones in Germany, at least one wireless carrier is taking advantage of the opportunity to try to win over some iPhone customers.

German mobile phone provider Debitel AG is offering customers a 600 euro sign-up bonus to iPhone buyers to switch from T-Mobile to their service.

T-Mobile was forced by an temporary injunction to offer an unlocked iPhone in Germany without a required contract. The normal German iPhone costs 399 euro but requires a 2 year contract. For 999 euro, customers can now buy an unlocked and contract-free iPhone. Debitel's bonus is meant to offset this unlocking cost to get customers.

Article Link

[lord patton]

Wow. Just... wow.

I wonder how long you have to sign up for?

[Dreyfus]

Actually debitel is more a MVNO than a carrier - they resell subscriptions from all major carriers.

This move is great for consumers and finally brings back the free market conditions Apple did try to surpress.

• People can buy into all plans, including T-Mobile
• People that already have free hotspot access because they pay for it with their Telekom landline, do not need to pay for it again
• People talking a lot and using little data can save big money - a domestic flatrate and a small data package from T-Mobile cost less through debitel than the Complete XL package from T-Mobile
• Mostly younger people sending tons of SMSs can save substantially
• debitel does handle changing of tariff plans a lot more flexible than T-Mobile, especially iPhone customers get lousy service (cannot even change freely between the 3 iPhone tariffs)

[bketchum]

This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it.

- Admiral Josh Painter

[megfilmworks]

Just goes to show what a little ingenuity can do!

[Drumjim85]

will these other proveders be able to offer visual voicemail. Or just t-mobile???
was that part of the court ruling?

[Dreyfus]

Originally Posted by Drumjim85

will these other proveders be able to offer visual voicemail. Or just t-mobile???
was that part of the court ruling?

As per now, not even people buying a T-Mobile tariff through debitel will be able to access visual voicemail, because it is exclusive to the T-Mobile iPhone tariffs (not offered by MVNOs). I do not know what the patent situation is, but I would bet that Apple has this protected. As long as they hold on to their exclusivity model, they will certainly not license it to competitors - but things might change fast. Not a single market outside the US is favouring these exclusive deals and deliberate tying of device and service - in Asia they will not even get a nod.

As somebody who has voicemail always deactivated - I do not call back - I really do not care for that feature, and a lot of business people don't. Call-redirection is offered by every carrier here - let the secretary have it.

Apple will acknowledge at some point (without saying it, but by changing conditions) that the rest of the world is different and that they limit their success instead of supporting it.

The iPhone has recently been tested by the German Xonio.com site, one of the most important resources for people investigating mobiles. The iPhone did not impress - it is now on rank 78 of their all-time list (http://www.xonio.com/artikel/x_artik..._20443109.html - led by several models that are years older.

With rankings like that, T-Mobile runs out of selling points for talking people into an overpriced long-term contract. And as the sales figures from the UK indicate - they will have to bundle free Ferraris soon...

P.S. No, that was not and cannot be part of a court ruling - the court can ensure fair competition by disallowing mandatory vertical bundling - it cannot tell a company to give it's intellectual property to others, unless - in distinct cases - there is a monopoly. As the iPhone is not the only phone on the market (far from it) - this is not a monopoly.

[c-Row]

You are about five hours late...

[Dreyfus]

Originally Posted by c-Row

You are about five hours late...

Unfair! You have to consider the time difference

[c-Row]

Originally Posted by Dreyfus

Unfair! You have to consider the time difference

Pffft... when I posted this, it was bright day in the USA.

[alFR]

Originally Posted by Dreyfus

With rankings like that, T-Mobile runs out of selling points for talking people into an overpriced long-term contract. And as the sales figures from the UK indicate - they will have to bundle free Ferraris soon...

Link for those poor sales figures? All the ones I've seen state that it's selling well in the UK and exceeding expectations (like here, here and here).

[Dreyfus]

Originally Posted by alFR

Link for those poor sales figures? All the ones I've seen state that it's selling well in the UK and exceeding expectations (like here, here and here).

Well, all the links you have provided point to reports issued after the first weekend of sales and mainly reflect pent-up demand created by real Apple-fans (pretty much the same in Germany).

This weeks reports sound like this: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...ne_supply.html

And, watching Bloomberg, BBC and German n-tv - this seems to be not too far off. Of course, only Apple, O2 and T-Mobile do have the real figures, but: whatever they are, they are below the devices potential. The consistent coverage on lawsuits, problems etc. will ultimately make cautious buyers wait - if there is a glimpse of a chance to get it a few bucks cheaper in January, a lot of people will wait. While they wait, they will read reviews (which might be critical), get favourable information on other devices (true or not), etc. Without that whole contract mess, the iPhone would be a normal consumer device, just like an iPod. People could buy it and give it as a present - a present that comes with a mandatory 24 months contract at mediocre conditions (even worse in Germany) might not make spirits bright.

[Sijmen]

Great deal.

[alFR]

Originally Posted by Dreyfus

This weeks reports sound like this: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...ne_supply.html

And, watching Bloomberg, BBC and German n-tv - this seems to be not too far off. Of course, only Apple, O2 and T-Mobile do have the real figures, but: whatever they are, they are below the devices potential.

That AppleInsider story is from an "anonymous source", which isn't very credible. The linked Register story is similarly without attribution.

Maybe you're right and sales are lower than expected, but I don't think we'll know for sure until we get official Q1 figures from Apple. Also, you have to remember they have only ever said they are aiming for 1% of the market: I'd be surprised if they don't get that.