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Orange Announces iPhone for France

xenotaku said:
why would anyone in europe buy a phone that is not 3G? That would be like us buying a macbook pro that only supported dial up internet.
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No, it's more like a computer that supports Ethernet-100 but not Gigabit Ethernet.

Now, for me, that's a deal-breaker. Any computer I buy has to have gigabit as I'm constantly copying 15 to 20 GB DV files all the time. But for most people, gigabit just isn't needed very often. For those people it just doesn't matter. I'm betting that those users outnumber me when it comes to laptops.

Now, I have NO CLUE how often people use 3G on their phones. I don't even have a 'net enabled cell phone myself. But I'm betting that maybe...just maybe...Apple has looked into it and figured out how often people use 3G on their phones. It looks to me like they've decided people don't use it enough to worry about it quite yet. Just because everyone HAS it doesn't mean they USE it.

I mean, on the one hand we have a multi-billion dollar company basing a huge new product line on what they think, and on the other hand we have people on the internet saying what they think.

No offense, but I'm betting the multi-billion dollar companty put a LITTLE bit more thought into this than you did.
 
Hmm...

It does make me wonder if there will be a workaround for the UK as we also have Orange and T-Mobile here. I can see a problem converting AT&T to another network, but when you can get an iPhone from France on Orange and an iPhone from Germany on T-Mobile, would there be a way of "fooling" the iPhone in accepting a UK Orange or T-Mobile SIM? Something that won't be broken with a software/firmware update?
 
Jules: Do you know what they call the iPhone in France?
Brett: No.
Jules: Tell him, Vincent.
Vincent: Ze Phon Royale. Do you know what they call it Ze Phon Royale?
Brett: Because they don't have the English language?
Jules: Check out the big brain on Brett. You one smart mofo.
 
210 said:
It does make me wonder if there will be a workaround for the UK as we also have Orange and T-Mobile here. I can see a problem converting AT&T to another network, but when you can get an iPhone from France on Orange and an iPhone from Germany on T-Mobile, would there be a way of "fooling" the iPhone in accepting a UK Orange or T-Mobile SIM? Something that won't be broken with a software/firmware update?
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No. I would imagine your iTunes account specifies what region you are in and matches the phone's region to it. So, buying a German iPhone it looks for your residence in Germany...
 
L'iphone a Paris

Macrumors said:


No details (price or plans) have yet been provided, and Apple has not yet announced the partnership. Apple Expo, however, takes place next week starting on September 25th.

Article Link
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Makes me wonder if Steve is going to announce anything else at the Paris Expo. I can't imagine he will again introduce the iPhone to France, kinda dull.
3G is a disaster so far in Europe in terms of usage by consumers, so EDGE + Wifi should be a nice start.
 
Rhuantavan said:
How about an iPhone for the rest of us in the EU, before that? Life sucks.
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Sorry to say that, I was just throwing a fit. But if I live in Europe, I'd get something that's 3G since the network is already laid out for 3G. There are so many cooler phone options having 3G in the area. But in the US, I can only go for a pretty phone since the phone companies are too busy expanding their market shares than expanding their area limited highspeed network. Come on, I should be video chatting with my families on my cellphone by now. But, that's just me. Although not as functional, iPhone is still a pretty phone. :rolleyes:

appie57 said:
Makes me wonder if Steve is going to announce anything else at the Paris Expo. I can't imagine he will again introduce the iPhone to France, kinda dull.
3G is a disaster so far in Europe in terms of usage by consumers, so EDGE + Wifi should be a nice start.
Click to expand...

In that case, get an iPhone...
 
k2k koos said:
since I am on orange in the UK, I think something needs to change....
let the french have the O2 deal, and the UK get the orange deal, then I could have an iPhone on Orange, as I prefer their customer services way above that of O2... Or I should move to france....:apple:
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I rerely if ever call or otherwise interact with customer service. In the US, I used Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, they all about suck. I basically talk to them only when I set up the contract, and once or twice in the 2 year contract to check something about the bill. The rest of the time I do not see a need to deal with them regardless of how good or bad they are.

Maybe some people here have a lot of technical issues with the wireless service itself so they need to speak with a representative all the time, and as such how good they are is an issue.

Maybe it is just luck.
:apple:
 
hdasmith said:
As I've said many times, lots of people have 3G on their phone, and don't use it, that's why people will buy a non-3G phone. This goes more so with a Wi-fi enabled phone with free use of The Cloud and my uni network. I'm either there or at home so I don't need 3G to surf quickly.
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So you don't need EDGE, or unlimited data? Don't tell me you're paying for the contracts... :eek:
 
appie57 said:
Makes me wonder if Steve is going to announce anything else at the Paris Expo. I can't imagine he will again introduce the iPhone to France, kinda dull.
Click to expand...

Surprisingly, Steve wasn't in Paris today to introduce the iPhone for the French market. Apple didn't make an official announcement yet so that will be for the Apple Expo. All we got was a confirmation from the Orange/France Télécom CEO who talked briefly to the press in Vietnam. No launch price and no price plans were given. We'll know on Sept. 25.
 
Orange doesn't say how much it will sell for, but it's a pretty safe bet it will be the same €399 as in Germany.

On a side note, Apple says that the prices are roughly equivalent to the U.S. price because of already-added VAT price in Euroland compared to no-sales-tax-included U.S. price.

Here are some comparisons:

iPhone in Oregon, New Hampshire, or one of the other no-sales-tax states: $399.
iPhone in California, with its (nation's highest) state 7.5% sales tax: $428.93
iPhone in a locality with high state, plus high local sales taxes, equaling 9.75% (The highest I can find, Tennessee's state 7% plus it's local-max 2.75%): $437.90

iPhone in UK, VAT already added: £269, approx $540. UK has a 19% VAT, so pre-VAT price in dollars is approximately $455. Still more than the POST-TAX U.S. prices. I guess UK is more expensive. :p
iPhone in Germany, VAT already added: €399, approx $560 (UK for the win! This is in contrast to the iTunes Store, where the UK gets shafted compared to the rest of Euroland.) Germany has a VAT of 17.5%, so pre-VAT price is approximately $475 (UK even moreso for the win. Apple is just shafting the Germans.)

France has a 19.5% VAT, though, but Macs cost the same in Euros in both Germany and France, so Apple is likely just making a slightly smaller profit. I imagine it will still be €399, and Apple just takes a slight hit compared to Germany. (It still equals about $465 pre-VAT, so UK is still ahead here.)

I also feel sorry for the Irish, who 'share' a localized site with the UK, so they get to see all of Apple's iPhone marketing on their 'localized' Apple page, but don't get to buy it. (apple.com/ie redirects to apple.com/uk, which is titled "Apple (UK and Ireland)") And is it just me, or does typing "apple.com/ie" feel, I don't know, blasphemous? Kind of like typing "microsoft.com/safari"

Edit: Scratch that! They finally separated out the Irish! apple.com/ie is it's own site now! "Apple (Republic of Ireland)" It wasn't that way two days ago, and the apple.com/uk still says (UK and Ireland) They haven't fixed all the links yet, though. If you click any "Buy Now", you still get directed to the UK web store. But if you pick Ireland from the drop-down at the bottom of the Apple Store page, you get a Republic of Ireland store.
 
iPhone's finally makin it's rounds and taking over the world!

So it begins.
 
Yea I found the announcements to be a little anti-climatic.

I mean I think Steve could have made a better impression on the European crowd.. oh well at least they're getting the iPhone, i'm sure that's more important :)
 
ehurtley said:
...
iPhone in a locality with high state, plus high local sales taxes, equaling 9.75% (The highest I can find, Tennessee's state 7% plus it's local-max 2.75%): $437.90

iPhone in UK, VAT already added: £269, approx $540. UK has a 19% VAT, so pre-VAT price in dollars is approximately $455. Still more than the POST-TAX U.S. prices. I guess UK is more expensive. :p
imagine it will still be €399, and Apple just takes a slight hit compared to Germany. (It still equals about $465 pre-VAT, so UK is still ahead here.)
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If I'm not mistaken, VAT rates are tax-inclusive, which means that the tax is actually 19% of $540, not 19% of $455. Which means that the pre tax UK price is $437.40. You do the math from there.

Cheers
Tom
 
tiger02 said:
If I'm not mistaken, VAT rates are tax-inclusive, which means that the tax is actually 19% of $540, not 19% of $455. Which means that the pre tax UK price is $437.40. You do the math from there.

Cheers
Tom
Click to expand...

Ah, so it's not "VAT is 19% of the pre-tax price", it's "19% of the total price is VAT"? I guess that actually makes more sense. Yeah, that would change my numbers (make the euro models cheaper,) by a bit. Not massively, though, as you point out. But it does make it more competitive. In fact, it makes it cheaper in UK than the max possible taxed price in the US.
 
macFanDave said:
Hottest dish in Paris cafes: Pomme a l'Orange!
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Pas mal:). Does anyone else think Steve wanted to have Orange in at least one country just for the sake of jokes like this??

aLoC said:
Jules: Do you know what they call the iPhone in France?
Brett: No.
Jules: Tell him, Vincent.
Vincent: Ze Phon Royale. Do you know what they call it Ze Phon Royale?
Brett: Because they don't have the English language?
Jules: Check out the big brain on Brett. You one smart mofo.
Click to expand...

Pas mal encore. This is the funniest thread I've read yet.

ehurtley said:
Ah, so it's not "VAT is 19% of the pre-tax price", it's "19% of the total price is VAT"? I guess that actually makes more sense. Yeah, that would change my numbers (make the euro models cheaper,) by a bit. Not massively, though, as you point out. But it does make it more competitive. In fact, it makes it cheaper in UK than the max possible taxed price in the US.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the TVA is always included, usually with a little price below showing the amount pre-tax. In France it's against the law to post the pre-tax price without clearly marking the tax-inclusive total in the same field of vision (check out apple.fr for a good example of this). I like this system better: no getting to the register with your $500 toy and finding out it's actually a $540 toy...as if it matters to us who gets the extra 40 bucks.

In any case, the whole price difference issue is way overblown; sure I'm damn sick of paying 19.6% tax on everything, but there are also many many many things here that are waaaaay cheaper than anywhere I lived in the US, even after taxes, and in the end I live OK on less money per month (then again I'm not rich; rich people here get the royal shaft). Besides, unless you move money from one currency to another on a regular basis, trade on the Forex market or do alot of international traveling, exchange rates don't mean bupkis. Most people only 'live' (i.e. make and spend money) in one economy at a time; it is almost 100% meaningless, for example, for a European who has no financial ties to the US to complain that a 399-Euro iPhone prices out at $100,000 USD or whatever the rate is right now.

But I do love transferring Euros back to the states these days...:D
 
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