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iPhone Launches in Austria and Ireland

What about Portugal, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Norway ?

IMO only a handful of Europe countries have been served.

Eventually, it's Apple who loses in the end because I know a lot of people who would've bought the iPhone in last June and as time keeps passing and competing brands start popping out brand-new cell phones people end up getting tired of waiting for the iPhone and just buy a Nokia (etc etc).

I know it would be ridiculously hard to release the iPhone worldwide at the same time but.. it's been 9 months since the iPhone was ready for shipping in the US and I just can't understand why the hell is Apple taking so long to release the damn device everywhere else. Don't they see that people in Europe/Asia etc are also eager to spend big amounts of money on shiny new gadgets? geez...

</rant> :)
 
mstur said:
The basic plan in Germany is EUR 49 for 100 min and 40 SMS

In Austria the basic plan is EUR 39 for 4000 min and 25c for each SMS, for EUR 55 you get 4000 min AND 1000 SMS !!

So: there IS a huge difference in fees between Austria and Germany, but this is true for all carriers and all rates...

Why ?: Austrian networks reap a huge profit from roaming fees, and are still fighting for customers. The lowest rates are about 3c per minute, whereas in Germany its 10c per minute !!
Click to expand...

Austria is one of the most saturated and developed cell phone markets in Europe and many people there, not even just young people, even give up their landlines and DSL connections because calling as well as 3G data rates have become incredibly cheap. That is not the case in Germany (yet), at least not to the extent it is happening in Austria. Most providers also offer HSDPA with 7.2 MBit/s and soon 14.4 MBit/s; hopefully the 3G iPhone will make use of that as well.
Furthermore, the German cell phone providers still have to get the money in they spent on 3G licenses which was, even per capita, much more than in other countries in Europe.

So yeah, welcome iPhone to Austria and Ireland!
 
Nym said:
What about Portugal, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Norway ?

IMO only a handful of Europe countries have been served.

Eventually, it's Apple who loses in the end because I know a lot of people who would've bought the iPhone in last June and as time keeps passing and competing brands start popping out brand-new cell phones people end up getting tired of waiting for the iPhone and just buy a Nokia (etc etc).

I know it would be ridiculously hard to release the iPhone worldwide at the same time but.. it's been 9 months since the iPhone was ready for shipping in the US and I just can't understand why the hell is Apple taking so long to release the damn device everywhere else. Don't they see that people in Europe/Asia etc are also eager to spend big amounts of money on shiny new gadgets? geez...

</rant> :)
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure Apple is talking to most countries, but apparently they have not yet reached an agreement.

I am sure Apple would love to sell you an iPhone as soon as they can.

Besides the negotiation with Apple, there may also be laws that may get in the way.
 
I too share the frustration of fellow Australians, not having the iphone yet because it won't work on any of our mobile networks.

The thing is that compared to the rest of the world it sounds like we actually have money to spend on iphones. Our interest rates have just been put UP, our unemployment is at its lowest rate in 34 years, we have labour and skilled shortages, there are lots of people with disposable incomes, Sydney was voted the worlds best city to live and work in. (by a UK based business climate group) The sub prime thing hasn't really hurt us.


Australia is booming so apple PLEASE PLEASE LET US HAVE THIS WONDERFUL PHONE OF YOURS P L E A S E.


I found this on a website which may persuade apple that there is a sustainable market here, we are not a backwater as most of you think.

"Australia is truly the engine room of the world-it has almost 15 - 20% of world wide production of alumina, industrial diamonds, iron ore and nickel.

There are also vast reserves of oil and natural gas; there are currently over over 60 oil and natural gas fields operating with more to follow.

In addition, of the worlds known reserves, Australia has around 40% of the uranium, over 50% of the Tantalum (an important mineral used in the production of electronic components), over 30 % of the zircon and over 25% of the rutile (both important industrial minerals).

It is no wonder that Australia is seen as the engine room not only of Asia but large parts of the world. "
 
It's sickening to see the difference in what you get in Austria for your money compared to the deal you get in Ireland. 3GB per month and 1000 minutes? :(
 
Nym said:
What about Portugal, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Norway ?

IMO only a handful of Europe countries have been served.

Eventually, it's Apple who loses in the end because I know a lot of people who would've bought the iPhone in last June and as time keeps passing and competing brands start popping out brand-new cell phones people end up getting tired of waiting for the iPhone and just buy a Nokia (etc etc).

I know it would be ridiculously hard to release the iPhone worldwide at the same time but.. it's been 9 months since the iPhone was ready for shipping in the US and I just can't understand why the hell is Apple taking so long to release the damn device everywhere else. Don't they see that people in Europe/Asia etc are also eager to spend big amounts of money on shiny new gadgets? geez...

</rant> :)
Click to expand...

The mobile markets just aren't mature enough. Look at Spain where most people are used to paying at LEAST ten cents per minute, if not more (for Movistar customers to call me as a Yoigo person, they're charged 17 cents per minute). The idea of free mobile to mobile doesn't exist (the closet they come to is Yoigo and Vodafone's offers for "free" in network calls, but they still charge you for the first minute and/or the establishment of the call) and certainly not free nights and weekends like in the US market. Movistar charges 10 cents per megabyte of data, whereas Vodafone has 40€ a tethering plans but they limit VOIP. Yoigo doesn't limit you to VOIP and only charges a max of 1,20 a day, but will speed limit you after a certain point. Orange is more or less the same as the others.

Until Spain's companies get their act together*, I don't see any of them being able to really offer it at a remotely reasonable price.

* and by that I mean Movistar having its ridiculous monopoly broken.
 
well lower tarifs in a more competive market ? big surprise

don't forget that t-mobile is actually more of an underdog... especially in marketing they still have problems because they still somehow lack an image like A1, one,telering, drei (3) ... even at least their own budget brands like bob and yess! at least have an image at all

t-mobile more or less bought himself into the market and still has problems with adoption

they are trying hard with "everything included" tarifs .. but those aren't so hot around here

edit:eek:h and that 3GB includes any traffic over t-mobile wifi hotspots
which makes this not so super
 
lukasgardiner said:
that canada does not yet have the iphone is beyond ridiculous. really says something (awful) about our mobile providers... seriously.
Click to expand...

iPhone comes with unlimited data plan in the USA (in theory, in practice you won't be able to download 10GB over Edge network in a month) and reasonably generous data plan in the UK (looked like about 100 MB per day). At that time we were shown here the numbers that Canadian providers want to charge for data plans, and they were absolutely ridiculous, like dollars per Megabyte.
 
jmadlena said:
AT&T has an exclusive contract with Apple to carry the iPhone until 2011. So no, not very soon.
Click to expand...

No. That's just the rumor that gets repeated so often that people believe it's true. Neither Apple nor AT&T has released any terms of the contract. While it may be true that Apple and AT&T have said that they will distribute the iPhone on the AT&T network for 5 years, the actual period of exclusivity remains unknown. Some believe the period of exclusivity may actually be two years, or less. Contact investor relations at Apple and AT&T if you have any doubts.
 
yeah. need to get one today.

but don't you germans whine about out prices: austria is known to be the world's test-drive for new mobile phone contracts etc. because in austria there is political stability and it's a good and representative population for europe.

so yeah basically what we have today will be yours in the future: we have great mobile phone plans here because we are very likely to buy "all included" bundles here. the concept went great for all the providers and for austrians, the iphone plans are still too expensive compared to what other providers charge you:

i'd get two plans with 2x 4000 minutes and included sms plus two free new nokia mobiles for 38 bucks per month (with one/orange) whereas i only get one plan, thus 1x 4000 minutes with the iphone for 55 euros (tmob).

greetz
florian (vienna/melbourne)
 
TBi said:
It's sickening to see the difference in what you get in Austria for your money compared to the deal you get in Ireland. 3GB per month and 1000 minutes? :(
Click to expand...


A few of my friends who are getting their free iPhones today are going to give the phones to their wives/girlfriends(edit. who will then jailbreak them). They all refuse to pay the 02 tariff, nor can they jailbreak their own phones under the terms of accepting them from Apple.

Just goes to show you. Hopefully it will be a huge failure for 02, forcing them to evaluate their charges.
 
flowagner said:
yeah. need to get one today.

but don't you germans whine about out prices: austria is known to be the world's test-drive for new mobile phone contracts etc. because in austria there is political stability and it's a good and representative population for europe.
Click to expand...

Don't mean to get off topic but I CANNOT believe you just said that. Basically you are insinuating that Germany does not have political stability?
 
gnasher729 said:
iPhone comes with unlimited data plan in the USA (in theory, in practice you won't be able to download 10GB over Edge network in a month) and reasonably generous data plan in the UK (looked like about 100 MB per day). At that time we were shown here the numbers that Canadian providers want to charge for data plans, and they were absolutely ridiculous, like dollars per Megabyte.
Click to expand...

In Canada Fido and Rogers data plans for this kind of phone start at $15. For that you get 2 MB of data over a 3 G network. What's the poing of 3 G to be able to download 2 mb??? Plans top out at $40 for 8 mb!!!! Plus, this is only for downloading from thier stuff. If you browse the general internet, or download apps that access data (like gmail), that's not covered under than plan and you get charged 5 cents per kb! I don't know why the goverment allowed the merger of the only two gsm carriers! :mad:
 
Padraig said:
A few of my friends who are getting their free iPhones today are going to give the phones to their wives/girlfriends(edit. who will then jailbreak them). They all refuse to pay the 02 tariff, nor can they jailbreak their own phones under the terms of accepting them from Apple.

Just goes to show you. Hopefully it will be a huge failure for 02, forcing them to evaluate their charges.
Click to expand...

I hope so too, but a lot of irish people (and i'm irish so i can say this) are just slaves to fashion (sheep?) and they'll buy them regardless to "keep up with the Joneses".

God damn it even i was mulling over the price of the O2 contract trying to convince myself it wasn't a total rip off. Thankfully a friend of mine slapped some sense into me! I've found a lot of places on Ebay which sell them around Dublin at 550 for the 16GB jailbroken version. I'm half mulling over it, though from america it would only be 400 for the 16GB version.

It's a lot of money for a phone without a warranty! Plus they'll probably drop the price by 100 again in a few months.
 
needle

tringo said:
Don't mean to get off topic but I CANNOT believe you just said that. Basically you are insinuating that Germany does not have political stability?
Click to expand...

What is the world coming to? There is needle between NZ/Aus, USA/CAN and Germany/Austria, but no insults flying between Irish and British :)
 
i haven't read any comments yet, but i bet the canadians are pissed . . . sorry, my northerly brothers and sisters, i don't know why the steve won't show you the love . . .
 
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