Unlocked iPhone 3G heading to Australia from Hong Kong

Stephen Withers
Monday, 23 June 2008 09:17

Business IT - Technology

The other possible reason is that there is no legal basis for such action. The phones are (apparently) genuine Apple products, so there's no forgery or misuse of trademarks. And there's no misrepresentation, as the businesses don't claim to be part of Apple's official channels.

If the sale of parallel imports was illegal, some prominent Australian retailers would be in trouble.

Apple has threatened legal action against sellers of unlocked iPhones in Singapore and Denmark .

In Australia, Apple has said the iPhone 3G will be available from Optus and Vodafone, though so far neither carrier has announced prices or plan details.

While Telstra has made no announcement, there have been reports that it will be start selling the iPhone a week or two after its rivals. Telstra's flagship T.Life store is directly across the street from the Apple Store in Sydney, which opened last week.

Whether the supposed delay is down to Telstra being unable to move as quickly as Optus or Vodafone, or if it is a mild rebuke on Apple's part is an open question. When the iPhone was first announced, a senior Telstra executive suggested that Apple should stick to its knitting and leave mobile phones to the established manufacturers.

There have been suggestions that Apple will not be selling the iPhone in Australia via the Apple Store in order to keep clear of legal prohibitions on 'third line forcing' (making the sale of an item conditional on the buyer purchasing other goods or services from another supplier). This would not rule out Apple resellers selling the iPhone as agents for the mobile carriers. Indeed, Next Byte, a large Apple reseller, was acquired last year by mobile phone retailer Fone Zone.