looks like i'm going on the $19 16gb yes plan. i barely ever use my phone as it is and i'd be using my iphone more for the ipod and internet.
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Optus Announces iPhone 3G Pricing in Australia
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I'm with Tominated. Not a huge phone user, I'll largely be using the iPhone to receive calls, as an iPod, and a bit of browsing/email checking, so locking into a large monthly deal would be wasteful. Based on the info available so far I'll probably pay upfront for the phone, and get two $40 Turbo Cap recharges to get the phone unlocked. I'll get two $40 over a $30 and $50 recharge, as the $40 includes data, $30 doesn't ... Then, as happens now, there will be the odd month where I don't bother recharging, but can still receive calls ...
Okay, that was one factor which passed my memory, I guess that leaves around $50 unaccounted for but I guess thats pretty reasonable
Thanks.
I find it interesting that
* the Telstra upfront cost is $280 vs $400 for 8GB and 16GB - a $120 difference
* The Optus pay-by-month difference between 8GB & 16GB is $120 over the contract.
* The calculated buy-out and unlock via prepay prices for 8GB & 16GB are around $900... with a $120 difference between 8GB & 16GB.
Obviously, the extra memory in the phone is $120 of the price.
I actually think that when Apple US set their prices at $200 and $300, Apple Australia added 10% GST and a small markup to get $240 & $360 as our preferred price points. Optus hid their costs, Telstra marked theirs up.
It's a pity Apple couldn't force certain presentations of the iPhone plans. It would have been nice to have them cut through the confusion the companies like to provide. Perhaps charging $240 upfront for the 8GB would have lost too many sales?
With my calculations ($USD599 + 10% GST) = $ AUD 685.00
The Optus Prepay Price = $ AUD 729.00 [which is a $ AUD 44 difference to the USA Price]
i think this deal is a BIT overpriced. the iphone would not cost even half of that to manufacture. i would most certianly pay ~$600 for the 16gb version, i wont be paying ~$800 to unlock it and whatnot.
$79 per month with only 700mb? where is the free data that other countries are seeing? hell, where is the 'unlimited' data other companies are seeing?
God dagnabit i love it when so beautiful such as a AUS$210 iPhone 3G gets eaten into a $1000+ Abomination.
matty
its pretty annoying, its supposed to not go over US $299 or whatever it was. convert the numbers into AUD and it is not near >$1000.nice one...
i thought this phone was a low end consumer phone, clearly at this price its going to be aimed at people that can actually afford it. i most certainly cannot afford this. my dad would, but he wouldnt pay it. the iphone doesn't seem to be a performing business end phone, with the calendar capabilities and whatnot and some of the reviews have shown this. i guess its just an expensive toy for the fanboys and the richies.
i think this deal is a BIT overpriced. the iphone would not cost even half of that to manufacture. i would most certianly pay ~$600 for the 16gb version, i wont be paying ~$800 to unlock it and whatnot.
$79 per month with only 700mb? where is the free data that other countries are seeing? hell, where is the 'unlimited' data other companies are seeing?
matty
nice one...
i thought this phone was a low end consumer phone, clearly at this price its going to be aimed at people that can actually afford it. i most certainly cannot afford this. my dad would, but he wouldnt pay it. the iphone doesn't seem to be a performing business end phone, with the calendar capabilities and whatnot and some of the reviews have shown this. i guess its just an expensive toy for the fanboys and the richies.
Firstly, the phone at ~$700-$850 outright is in line with all other smart phones.
We don't have unlimited data because it would be prohibitively expensive, sure I would like to see more but compared with data prices a week ago it's positively cheap in comparison.
The $199 and $299 are not outright prices - THEY ARE BASED ON A 2 YEAR CONTRACT - I'm amazed at how many people are still getting this wrong. The US doesn't sell the phone outright. Italy does and the Italians will pay more than us to get one.
This is not a cheap consumer phone - it's a relatively high-end mobile computing platform with more capabilities than any smart phone before it. With the enterprise support in the software it's designed for everyone from individuals all the way up to multi-national corporations - it is not however a cheap throw-away phone you replace every 6 months.
nice 'talking' again mate its always a pleasure
the only reason why it would be ridiculously expensive is basically because of stupid companies (such as optus and telstra) not giving it to us, they would most certainly be able to give us true unlimited data.
ok so $199 and $299 prices arent outright, it's pretty good that we can at least get an unlocked version so people can go pre-paid (which is better IMO for texting and calls only, data is a different topic).
no it most certainly is not a cheap consumer phone. it is very well built, very hardy, has an the best OS running on it and a MASSIVE storage capacity for a smart phone. i have yet to see the enterprise support, nor test it, however, i would like to see how it performs/syncs/runs compared to other 'smartphones' that are out there.
dont get me wrong, i am an extremely hardcore apple fan-boy but the iphone does lack a few of the killer features that i wish it would have for it to be able to even think about considering buying it. there is no bluetooth sharing as of yet to other mobiles, it cant read basic word, pdf, excel etc type formats, and a few other minor niggles. it is seriously an amazing phone, i guess i just bag it because i cant afford it.
nice 'talking' again mate its always a pleasure
the only reason why it would be ridiculously expensive is basically because of stupid companies (such as optus and telstra) not giving it to us, they would most certainly be able to give us true unlimited data.
ok so $199 and $299 prices arent outright, it's pretty good that we can at least get an unlocked version so people can go pre-paid (which is better IMO for texting and calls only, data is a different topic).
no it most certainly is not a cheap consumer phone. it is very well built, very hardy, has an the best OS running on it and a MASSIVE storage capacity for a smart phone. i have yet to see the enterprise support, nor test it, however, i would like to see how it performs/syncs/runs compared to other 'smartphones' that are out there.
dont get me wrong, i am an extremely hardcore apple fan-boy but the iphone does lack a few of the killer features that i wish it would have for it to be able to even think about considering buying it. there is no bluetooth sharing as of yet to other mobiles, it cant read basic word, pdf, excel etc type formats, and a few other minor niggles. it is seriously an amazing phone, i guess i just bag it because i cant afford it.
It can read word, pdf, excel, powerpoint, pages, numbers and keynote formats.
Vodafoen has still not released the prices they will charge. My guess is it will be first thing monday morning. Tuesday at the latest... Will be interesting to see what they offer on prepaid and how it differs from optus...
Does anyone however know if telstra will be offering the iphone on prepaid? i herd they would not, but i can not remember if this was just a rumor, or an actual fact...
There's a big difference between:
a. changing the dynamics of a competitive market through insanely great product strategy
b. illegally brokering non-competitive deals with customers
But the product is actually cheap to produce because:
a. there are only two models (compared to phone companies dozens)
b. the OS is leveraged across iPhone and iPod Touch and Mac OS
c. there is no need to produce a cosmetically new model every few months
and it could be even cheaper to produce because of economies of scale.
Currently, it is only for emails on the default phone. There are numerous ways to store and view locally if you jailbreak your phone however, either via safari, or a dedicated pdf viewer app. I have no idea if an App Store app will enable similar functionality on unhacked 2.0 software, I'd guess one will if it is possible to do so, we will have to wait a few days and see though.
Vodafone Prices 10am tomorrow...
Vodafone has confirmed that they will be offering the iPhone for $199 on a two year contract, and thats where the info stops... More details however will be given at 10:00am tomorrow (tuesday) morning.
Also, they will start to sell (in NewZealand, not sure about Australia yet, nothing said) at 12:01am friday morning...
Link: http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/iphones-sale-199-friday-32823
Vodafone has confirmed that they will be offering the iPhone for $199 on a two year contract, and thats where the info stops... More details however will be given at 10:00am tomorrow (tuesday) morning.
Also, they will start to sell (in NewZealand, not sure about Australia yet, nothing said) at 12:01am friday morning...
Link: http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/iphones-sale-199-friday-32823
The stupid thing here in Australia is that a cap plan is that it is not really pre-paid but more like a subscription plan you can leave whenever you like. That is because normally, your recharge expires on a monthly basis. Except if you, like me, are on a longer life plan. But then your credit is not doubled/tripled/whatever; a $ 50,- recharge is a $ 50,- recharge and with these calling prices you run out of credit fast...
Vodafone put its plans online this morning then withdrew them shortly after.
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/07/vodafone_puts_iphone_pricing_online_then_pulls_it_down.html
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/07/vodafone_puts_iphone_pricing_online_then_pulls_it_down.html
Wow. That's a bad plan - hope they pulled it because they realised.
I want Vodafone for the bonus "100 minutes Vodafone to Vodafone" option between me and my wife - but look at the comparison (on 16GB iPhones):
Vodafone:
$309, plus $69/mth for $310 of calls + 250MB data
(or on their regular plan
$363, plus $49/mth for $310 of calls + 0 data ($12 for a 100MB pack))
Or I could go to Optus:
$0, plus $66/mth for $350 of calls + 500MB data.
(note that the connect/flagfall fee is 5c more per call on Optus. All other call charges are the same)
Hard choice eh!
Vodafone Pricing is back on the website.
And those prices are real.
Really, really bad, real.
Odd that only Optus has realised the market includes lots of people that don't see the value in those dumb cap plans.
Looks like another new optus customer here.
Good thing Vodafone service is getting spottier at work and home and most the places inbetween (all 5Km radius of sydney GPO)
And those prices are real.
Really, really bad, real.
Odd that only Optus has realised the market includes lots of people that don't see the value in those dumb cap plans.
Looks like another new optus customer here.
Good thing Vodafone service is getting spottier at work and home and most the places inbetween (all 5Km radius of sydney GPO)
It is surprisingly bad isn't it?
The Vodafone deal has 100 bonus minutes between me and my wife - which is basically an extra $80 of calls on the plan (Optus has its own Optus-to-Optus discounts of course).
Even at the extra $80 it doesn't seem worth while - but I do have to consider it. I have to translate them into similar deals to compare....
* Voda $0 + $82/mth for $390 calls + 250MB data (incl voda-to-voda)
* Opt $0 + $66/mth for $350 calls + 500MB data
Nah.... Vodafone really can't compete.
I guess all the Telcos release new phones at a premium, then re-evaluate as soon as demand dwindles... so we would have seen changes after a couple of months anyway. I wonder if that'll happen sooner for Vodafone due to this.
The Vodafone deal has 100 bonus minutes between me and my wife - which is basically an extra $80 of calls on the plan (Optus has its own Optus-to-Optus discounts of course).
Even at the extra $80 it doesn't seem worth while - but I do have to consider it. I have to translate them into similar deals to compare....
* Voda $0 + $82/mth for $390 calls + 250MB data (incl voda-to-voda)
* Opt $0 + $66/mth for $350 calls + 500MB data
Nah.... Vodafone really can't compete.
I guess all the Telcos release new phones at a premium, then re-evaluate as soon as demand dwindles... so we would have seen changes after a couple of months anyway. I wonder if that'll happen sooner for Vodafone due to this.
in australia you can unlock any phone (for a price), this price seems to be $80 AUD..