Optus to launch puny 1GB plan for Australian iPhone 3G?

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Wednesday, 02 July 2008

Page 2 of 3 Then, incredibly, the GadgetGuy article says the following: “On the downside, it appears that Optus iPhones will be locked to the network, and it will cost you around $60 to $80 to unlock it.” On the downside? Hey, this is a good thing, and a cost of $60 to $80 to unlock the iPhone means you’ll be free to use it with whatever carrier you want, and put foreign SIM cards into the iPhone when you go overseas, something you can’t do with a locked iPhone today. When it comes to the price, the article says it’s sourced suggested an AUD $239 price for the iPhone – presumably the 8GB model – on a 12 month contract. A 12 month contract is good – it’s just enough time to pass for the successor to the iPhone 3G to arrive, in my mind. Now, no outright price for the iPhone was unveiled, and there’s no indication of prices for the 16GB model either, whether on contract or outright. Back to the part about unlocking the iPhone from Optus for a moment. It's obvious that the US $199 price point Steve Jobs unveiled for the iPhone wasn't the true outright price - that was known from the beginning. It shows the true cost of an iPhone outright is much, much higher, and much closer to the US $599 the iPhone 8GB was priced at in the first place, if not more expensive still. When you take that into account, the iPhone's price probably hasn't really changed that much at all to the end user, and those buying iPhones at US $399 have been doing so at great cost to Apple's bottom line - no wonder Apple wants you to walk out of AT&T stores with the iPhone 3G already activated and ceasing the practice of at home activation! It will be interesting to see what the unlocked price for an iPhone is from the different carriers is in Australia, what they'll be overseas, and how easy it will be to officially or unofficially unlock the iPhone as many people did with the iPhone 2G. Wherever the cheapest place is in the world to buy iPhones outright from is where the global source of unlocked iPhones on eBay may well come from, and how much control Apple will have over that is yet to be see. So, what don't we know, officially or unofficially? Continued on page 3. << First page <   1 2 3 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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