iPhone Japan and Other International Pricing

[matticus008]

So much for the $199 US MAX Jobs said at WWDC.

$214-220 is $199 after you include taxes, which are internal in most other countries around the world.

Perhaps the figure of $214.6 includes VAT (or its Japanese analogue).

Precisely.

I know he said $199 worldwide, but please bear min mind that when American companies speak of "worldwide" they really mean "throughout all the American states".

What? Worldwide means worldwide. Nationwide means "throughout the American states".

Bah, seems like a scam to me... $199 thats £100 what is going on with these numbers.

PAYG isn't a contract price. $199 is the 2-year agreement price, and you'll find that carriers in the UK are making the iPhone 3G available for less than £100 in many cases (even free!).

Give us proper figures at WWDC Jobs, not lies.

What lie?

 

[samab]

You missed the point. If there are two carriers you can be a new customer with the other one - meaning you get all the new customer benefits. Upgrade pricing is for mugs (yes I really want to pay £100 for that phone you're giving to new customers for free... not..).

The iphone is somewhat a special case in that previously it wasn't subsidised so all current owners get 'new customer' pricing. At least this year...

You are going to have to break your current contract with your current carrier --- either by paying ETF or in many other countries paying out the rest of the contract.

 

[wackymacky]

Was informed yesterday that the 3G iPhone will sell between AU$299-399 outright to smash the market meaning that the touch will prob drop by 50 percent in price. Lets hope so.

What makes you suspect that Apple would sell the phone in Australia at a large loss? Remember the drop in the US price is done by the carrier subsidising the phone so they then can sell you the data usage on a contract.

To sell the phone at 299-300 of the shelf off contract in Australia would be aprox. 50% price cut for Apple than they are selling for in the US.


(If this turned out to be true I'd set up a iPhone 3g export business out of Australia.)

 

[wackymacky]

Shock! Horror! Using it because it's there and having to use it are different things. I had it before and it served no purpose at all. True, I don't have to waste time commuting, but if I did I'd rather sleep or listen to music.

You could say the same about the vacuum cleaner, television or even the flushing toilet: That they are just for convienence.

Being able to access internet based information when I am away from a desk has the capacity to make life much easier. People often want my opinion about how a document/slide-show etc. etc looks or are sending me PDF's for an opinion on the content.

a smart phone or iPhone are much more convenient for carrying around 8am to 6pm that a laptop or even a mini-pc.

 

[deputylove8]

yeahness!

 

[stephenli]

And can the iphone read these things?

It seems like the japanese live off of scanning those things with their phones. Those codes are on literally everything, signs, websites, food, tv shows... everything.

The iphone just doesnt have what it takes for the japanese lifestyle. If they "evaporate" right away something tells me it wont be a very big shipment.

Japanese's advertising style have somehow changed this year. They shifted from "QR code" to "search keyword". Advertisements always have QR code last year, but maybe they still think that starting QR code scanner is still slower then input "keyword" on i-mode / yahoo keitai, so nowadays those ads always include a box of the search box with keyword...
Docomo's 905i / 705i series also include shortcut button for search keyword.

 

[djellison]

With this point in mind, if you look at the high end SIM free phones....

But this is not a sim-free phone they're selling.

Doug

 

[mavis]

Shock! Horror! Using it because it's there and having to use it are different things. I had it before and it served no purpose at all. True, I don't have to waste time commuting, but if I did I'd rather sleep or listen to music.

I understand that people have different needs (and I use the word 'need' loosely) but I am constantly searching for wifi networks with my Touch - whether it's responding to an email from a friend or looking up something for work - I HATE not having internet access on the go. And the fact that I do commute, sitting on the train for about three hours a day kind of seals the deal. Nothing worse than coming home and having to waste my time online when I could have finished it all on the train. I actually try to get enough sleep at night, so I don't need to sleep on the train every day - it'll be SO nice finally being able to accomplish something instead of just sitting there listening to music and being annoyed that I can't reply to an email.

 

[whooleytoo]

Irish (O2) Prices in euros:
O2 Link

8GB options:

Phone 49 99 169
Tariff 100 65 45

16GB options:

Phone 129 169 229
Tariff 100 65 45

Data limit is still 1GB
No visual voicemail
A 1GB limit might make sense with a 2G phone, but with 3G phone it can add up quickly, not just because the data arrives faster, but also because the faster load times mean you use the data connection so much more.

 

[twoodcc]

seems interesting. i wonder what the final unsubsidized price will be here in the US?

 

[Minority_taxi]

What makes you suspect that Apple would sell the phone in Australia at a large loss?

Wouldn't be the first time a company sold a product at a loss for certain reasons. There was an article yesterday saying it cost US$173 to build it. Since the exchange rate is almost equal that doesn't equal a loss (given that marketing, packaging etc doesnt cost more than $100 per product)

 

[Let's Sekuhara!]

Softbank?

Why Softbank instead of AU or DoCoMo?

I had never even heard of Softbank until now. Not to be a hater or anything.

 

[GenericUsername]

Ooo, I overlooked this post before:

pricing in Greece is just like in Italy

8gb -->499
16gb -->569

www.vodafone.gr
Those are the prices without a contract, of course. That Web page notes that they include VAT of 19%, so a foreigner who buys one in Greece and takes it with him out of the country would pay 404.19 € (about US$647 now) and 460.89 € (about US$737 now), respectively, after receiving the refund of VAT (not that I'm certain a foreigner would be entitled to a refund of the entirety of VAT).

(However, I think residents of the U.S. are permitted to bring in goods with a total value of up to $500 free of duty, so...)

UPDATE: I have now seen today's news that AT&T will eventually offer contractless iPhones 3G itself for $599 and $699, respectively.

 

[tbohlsennswssrg]

Australian Pricing for iPhone

Telstra Australia today on July 1st (from http://iphoneae.com)

Telstra have confirmed that they wil be joining the party on the 11th July and have also announced their pricing plans. The plans start at $30 a month with $279 upfront (279+30×24=$999) for the 8GB and $399 upfront for the 16GB ($1,119). You can also opt for the $80 per month plan and recieve the 8GB iPhone for no upfront cost or $100 per month for the 16GB or 8GB iPhone at no cost. Both plans will also inclde free access to Telstra’s many wireless hotspots (WiFi) around Aus. Telstra has the largest 3G network in Australia and is sure to be very tempting for many.

 

[elmimmo]

Why Softbank instead of AU or DoCoMo?

I had never even heard of Softbank until now. Not to be a hater or anything.

Not to be a hater or anything but then you had not heard much at all about anything. (^_-)

Softbank is the third big player in Japan. Get some stats at the front page of http://wirelesswatch.jp/

Note that (if those figures are any right, which I will not bother double-checking) while third, the figures are not too shabby, and its sustainably getting more subscribers monthly than AU & KDDI's put together (how the number of subscribers can grow for all three in a country were virtually everybody owns already a subscription, I do not know, and I do not care that much either to find out where the catch is).