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Hong Kong Apple online Store sale iPhone 3G without contract

iPhone 3G in Hong Kong

First time poster; very long time and extreme avid reader.
PS - here's the Email sent out in Hong Kong to Apple customers. (attached)

HK$5,400 for 8GB (about USD$700); HK$6,200 for 16GB (about USD$800).
not cheap; but it IS fully unlocked. And i THINK that's cheaper than belgium, etc ....

you'd get a better deal if you actually lived in HK and signed on for a 24 month plan - which is HK$500 per month; so, HK$12,000 (about US$1,542) for 24 months; but you get the 8GB phone for FREE, and only pay the measly price of HK$138 (US$17) to "upgrade" to the 16GB version.
You do have to sign on to the 24 month contract though.
But then, it all works out - because if one paid HK$6,200 for the phone, you'd have to find a 'package deal' for less than HK$240 (US$31) per month to 'equalise' after 24 months!! ... which is pretty difficult even in HK - to get an "all in" deal for 3G which is less than HK$240.

BTW - In theory, I would be willing to make purchases in Hong Kong, and "re"-send / repost iPhone 3G over to USA or other overseas countries.
Having said that, I'm not out to look for any profit, but then nor am I willing to incur any losses out of pocket. So, U'd have to guarantee that I am indemnified beforehand.
In principle, I'd just be doing this as a favour, but do feel free to ask me!!
 

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Narcosis said:
you'd get a better deal if you actually lived in HK and signed on for a 24 month plan - which is HK$500 per month; so, HK$12,000 (about US$1,542) for 24 months; but you get the 8GB phone for FREE, and only pay the measly price of HK$138 (US$17) to "upgrade" to the 16GB version.
You do have to sign on to the 24 month contract though.
But then, it all works out - because if one paid HK$6,200 for the phone, you'd have to find a 'package deal' for less than HK$240 (US$31) per month to 'equalise' after 24 months!! ... which is pretty difficult even in HK - to get an "all in" deal for 3G which is less than HK$240.
Click to expand...

I, too, use the $498 unlimited data plan where 2,200 + 1,500 minutes is really impossible for me to exhaust. However, you can shop around and get a pretty good deal on packages from PCCW and even Three where their plans (fewer minutes plus 100 mb of data) start from under $100 month. Any amount of data usage above the 100mb gets priced incrementally and maxes out around $200+. So for those who don't use a lot of airtime minutes, you can pick up a plan with virtually unlimited data for less than the Three unlimited iPhone plan. But I take your point about the $240/mo difference after you factor in the upfront price of purchasing the phone.
 
Narcosis said:
HK$5,400 for 8GB (about USD$700); HK$6,200 for 16GB (about USD$800).
not cheap; but it IS fully unlocked. And i THINK that's cheaper than belgium, etc ....

BTW - In theory, I would be willing to make purchases in Hong Kong, and "re"-send / repost iPhone 3G over to USA or other overseas countries.
Having said that, I'm not out to look for any profit, but then nor am I willing to incur any losses out of pocket. So, U'd have to guarantee that I am indemnified beforehand.
In principle, I'd just be doing this as a favour, but do feel free to ask me!!
Click to expand...

I'm trying to figure out why someone in the United States would want to pay $700 for an iPhone3G when they can buy it here for $199. Okay, so you don't have to enter into a contract - but you're still going to have to pay a monthly voice and data plan anyway. So, if you are going to have to pay the monthly service fee anyway, why not just buy the phone with a contract and save $500 ?
You typed ... "And i THINK that's cheaper than belgium, etc." REALLY??? Are people in Europe paying
more than $700 for their iPhone3Gs ???? (I don't know, so that is why I am asking). I'm glad I didn't have to buy my iPhone in Europe then!!! Sheesh!!!! :eek:
 
Rybold said:
I'm trying to figure out why someone in the United States would want to pay $700 for an iPhone3G when they can buy it here for $199. Okay, so you don't have to enter into a contract - but you're still going to have to pay a monthly voice and data plan anyway. So, if you are going to have to pay the monthly service fee anyway, why not just buy the phone with a contract and save $500 ?
You typed ... "And i THINK that's cheaper than belgium, etc." REALLY??? Are people in Europe paying
more than $700 for their iPhone3Gs ???? (I don't know, so that is why I am asking). I'm glad I didn't have to buy my iPhone in Europe then!!! Sheesh!!!! :eek:
Click to expand...
Many reasons why someone from US would want an unlocked 3G phone and willing to pay $300. One, you are not required to have a data plan, ie with T-Mobile. Two, if you are a business traveler, you can go to most countries without incurring much cost by swapping sim cards.

I am sure there are more reasons, but above two would be enough of reason to purchase at $700.
 
CocoaPuffs said:
Many reasons why someone from US would want an unlocked 3G phone and willing to pay $300. One, you are not required to have a data plan, ie with T-Mobile. Two, if you are a business traveler, you can go to most countries without incurring much cost by swapping sim cards.

I am sure there are more reasons, but above two would be enough of reason to purchase at $700.
Click to expand...

Exactly right. I almost always use local sim cards when traveling. The savings on roaming charges is huge.
 
I'm from Hong Kong
and I was SOOO thrilled to hear this!

I can finally buy one, and use the best carrier in HK (arguably) - 1010 CSL!

I'm in the states for college, so switching the SIM card between AT&T and 1010 will require no hardware or software SIM unlock!

AWESOME!
 
Does anyone know how to get a temporary address in Hong Kong ?

Hi, I was reading this discussion and guessed "how could a canadian buy it alone at the chinese apple online shop and have it forwarded to his home address in Canada, without flying to China or knowing someone from Hong Kong... ?" :cool:

Does anyone here know what to do ? Is there a service that will receive the package for us and then forward it to us ??

Thanks for all your great ideas !!!

Rogerssssss :apple:
 
rogerssssss said:
Hi, I was reading this discussion and guessed "how could a canadian buy it alone at the chinese apple online shop and have it forwarded to his home address in Canada, without flying to China or knowing someone from Hong Kong... ?" :cool:
Click to expand...

Are you sure it would be worth the expense that would almost certainly be incurred in doing so? Given the current Canadian GSM/UTMS market (one company owns virtually 100% of the infrastructure and both of the dominant GSM/UTMS service providers), the only significant advantage of any unlocked phone in Canada at this point in time, would be to be able to take the phone with you and get a new local number when you visit or move to another country.

Mind you, there's probably a case to be made that the ability to purchase an iPhone outright and place it on a monthly post-paid plan, or a Pay-As-You-Go prepaid service without signing away 3 years of your life on a service contract would be a very attractive proposition.
 
Narcosis said:
First time poster; very long time and extreme avid reader.
PS - here's the Email sent out in Hong Kong to Apple customers. (attached)

HK$5,400 for 8GB (about USD$700); HK$6,200 for 16GB (about USD$800).
not cheap; but it IS fully unlocked. And i THINK that's cheaper than belgium, etc ....

you'd get a better deal if you actually lived in HK and signed on for a 24 month plan - which is HK$500 per month; so, HK$12,000 (about US$1,542) for 24 months; but you get the 8GB phone for FREE, and only pay the measly price of HK$138 (US$17) to "upgrade" to the 16GB version.
You do have to sign on to the 24 month contract though.
But then, it all works out - because if one paid HK$6,200 for the phone, you'd have to find a 'package deal' for less than HK$240 (US$31) per month to 'equalise' after 24 months!! ... which is pretty difficult even in HK - to get an "all in" deal for 3G which is less than HK$240.

BTW - In theory, I would be willing to make purchases in Hong Kong, and "re"-send / repost iPhone 3G over to USA or other overseas countries.
Having said that, I'm not out to look for any profit, but then nor am I willing to incur any losses out of pocket. So, U'd have to guarantee that I am indemnified beforehand.
In principle, I'd just be doing this as a favour, but do feel free to ask me!!
Click to expand...

I might be interested in having you do this. Send me a PM.
 
Hong Kong is not the only one and definitely not the first.
New Zealand was the first to sell the unlocked ones. I bought my iPhone 3G in NZ and when I went to Indonesia to visit my father, the sim worked. It also worked in Tokyo~!

And there is no doubt that NZ is cheaper than HK. I did a currency conversion.
(www.xe.com)


Below currency are converted into USD
8GB:
Hong Kong Dollars: 5400
USD: 695.11
---
New Zealand Dollars: 979
USD: 655.78

Save: 39.33

16GB:
Hong Kong Dollars: 6200
USD: 798.09
---
New Zealand Dollars: 1129
USD: 757.00

Save: 41.09



Visit: www.vodafone.co.nz if you want to see the prices and information.
 
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