How many people have, or are going to pay full price

[iambasil]

I'd say it's mostly land mass. Europe on a whole is less then half the size of America. So because of that you have less operating expenses and can pass on that savings to the consumer. It also means you can upgrade your network faster because you need less towers and that also mean's it's cheaper to do so (operating expenses again) which probably explains why the network was a few years ahead; Although it's basically at the same point right now since LTE isn't out yet.

Good point, and also the EU has >60% greater population to cover that smaller landmass (it is the EU, not Europe as a whole by the way).

It's certainly a combination of factors, but there's still plenty of room for improvement. Look at the solid network and cheap deals Australian's get - especially given their remote landmass and tiny customer base (the reason CDMA stuck around so long there is that it's efficiency offered better coverage in the 'bush').

Sorry all, think I've just bored myself to sleep too!

 

[vito]

I was contemplating spending £499 upfront, but thought I would go with a subsidised one this time around, sell it when it comes to month 12 and buy a SIM Free iPhone to continue using my existing contract as the likelihood of plans changing drastically is very slim!!

 

[Steve Jobs=God]

I paid the full £499 for 16Gb IP4, was going to pick up a 32Gb, but my CC was £3 short! Luckily i'm getting on fine with the 16Gb.

Having said that i only did it as i see myself staying on IP4 for a long time, at least 3 years, and i also sold my 3GS after i bought the IP4 for £300 so i only really paid £200 for it, which somewhat softens the financial blow.

 

[CalmEnvy]

I may pay full price come September for an iPhone 4. I'm still thinking about it and will be giving my gf my 3Gs. All depends if I really want t pay $700 lol. I've done it before for a phone.

 

[jordand321]

I just paid $1299 NZD ($937 USD, £600) for a 32GB

 

[Compile 'em all]

I paid $600 for the original iPhone which I unlocked. Then €750 for an officially unlocked 32Gs from Apple, and now 730€ for a 32 iPhone 4.

I only pay €10/month for data and that's about it. I pay for the calls (which are very few) and get 50 free SMSs/month. Oh, and I can use the phone on whatever network I want.

You might find it bizarre paying that much money for a phone, but no way in hell I am gonna pay these $60 or $80/month you guys pay.

 

[vito]

I paid the full price for the phone (UK).

This lets me get cheaper call plans and overtime doing this saves me money over getting a subsidised phone from a carrier. I also have the bonuses of i. not being tied into a contract ii. my phone is unlocked allowing complete freedom to shop for call plans.

Only bad thing about getting a iPhone straight from apple is that you have to fork over a lot of cash initially and thus it takes 8 months ish before you start to see savings.

What call plan have you signed up with?

 

[jfyrfytr25]

You mean you chose to pay full price?

No, I HAD to pay full price. My phone was stolen after only 1 month into a new contract. there is no $199 replacement unless you have a phone to give them in exchange.

But thanks for trying to be a smart A$$, a know it all, and TRYING to correct me.

 

[Brien]

I didn't pay full price, but I will if the white iPhone comes out and I decide to switch.

 

[daneoni]

Paid the full wad. Gets me a (hard to find) unlocked phone that allows me pick a carrier of my choosing anywhere in the world. Then there's the resale value...

 

[Applejuiced]

No, I HAD to pay full price. My phone was stolen after only 1 month into a new contract. there is no $199 replacement unless you have a phone to give them in exchange.

But thanks for trying to be a smart A$$, a know it all, and TRYING to correct me.

He was correct.
You chose to pay full price.
Noone forced you or mandate you to buy another iphone after it got stolen.
You could have got any other cheaper cellphone.

 

[vito]

People can't haggle for toffee (the Brits know what I mean =o)

Stay off the iPhone contracts, haggle with your network provider for every new contract and if you want an iPhone, buy one outright. You'll save a fortune.

My total cost of ownership over my 2 year contract is <£700 - that includes >750mins, >1,000txt, unlimited internet and a brand new 32GB iPhone 4 (and other extras like unlimited landline calls, free broadband etc)

Cost for a deal like that on a 24mth iPhone contract (picking the closest iphone contract and 'rounding down' - also ignoring any of my extras):
600mins, unlimited txt, 500GB - £35/mth
iP4 32GB - £209
Total cost: £1049
That's >£350 saving and gets a better deal too.

Good deal what network is that with?

 

[ArmCortexA8]

Outright and unlocked (unlike the US / Canada) in Australia, and these have sold out already.

 

[Irish Rose]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A306 Safari/6531.22.7)

I paid full retail for mine even though I could have had the discount, because I refuse to get locked into a 2 year agreement with any wireless carrier. I told the rep. at the AT&T store, that I would be happy to do a one year contract, but never two years.

 

[bassanoclapper]

I bought a 16gb off-contract and O2 issued me with a Micro SIM.
I get to stay on my unlimited data tariff too

Sold my 3GS for £300!

 

[iambasil]

Good deal what network is that with?

Orange loyalty discount tariff. A v.small proportion (1 guy in particular) of their iPhone sales team have some sort of chip on their shoulder - that particular guy called me greedy a year ago and this year tried to lock my phone to orange after asking me for my IMEI when I rang up for a replacement micro-sim (which you are fully entitled to WITHOUT having to be on an iPhone contract - you just need to have unlimited data in your contract (like me) or pay £10 for the iphone data bundle). I got a recently released android phone and a bluetooth accessory bundled for free, which I sold for >£200 - all contributed to the low total cost of ownership.

Regardless of who you're with, if you're out of contract just ring and haggle for the best deal you can - as long as you don't mention iPhone, they'll move a fair way to keep you. None of the operators can apply discounts to iPhone deals (except possibly a 10% deal - which is awful!).

 

[big samm]

got my iphone 4 32gb yesterday morning around 7:30 am in Canada/Montreal bought it outright 879.30$ tax in! i didn't want to renew my contract plus the thing is factory unlock! i couldn't ask for better am happy!!

 

[Jelite]

I never use phones enough to justify getting a contract, £10 credit will last me months, likely less with an iPhone admittedly.