Has the Aussie iPhone missed the boat?

Adam Turner
Friday, 23 May 2008 19:33

IT Industry - Market

After 12 months of iPhone hacking, you'd think almost anyone in the world who wants Apple's prized gadget would already own one.

It's estimated that 20 per cent of the world's iPhones have been hacked to work outside their country of origin. That's over 1 million iPhones floating around in countries that are still waiting to see an official iPhone reach their shores. It's also estimated that 60,000 of these bootleg iPhones have made it to Australia. Local sellers of mobile accessories tell me they're shipping a shed-load of iPhone-related gear such as cases and screen protectors.

I'd say the lack of 3G is about the only thing stopping more Australians from importing cheap iPhones from the US and hacking them to work here. If you don't care about HSDPA-like data speeds, there's little reason to wait for Apple's blessing before buying an iPhone from Vodafone, Optus or Telstra - especially when the exchange rate is so favourable right now.

It's easy to buy an iPhone over the counter in Australia if you shop in the right places, but if you got a friend to walk into a US Apple Store before the 2.5G iPhones sold out a few weeks ago, you could have picked up an 8GB iPhone for $US399 - around $AU430. Add another $30 or so for postage and you've got yourself an iPhone for well under $AU500. Going on Apple's typical 1.6x price hike in Australia, you wouldn't expect the official 8GB Australian iPhone to sell for under $AU640. I'd surprised if it's less than $AU699, and the 3G iPhone could demand an even higher premium. Now let's do some maths on future sales. CONTINUED