Unlocked iPhones in France – but when for all?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 18 October 2007 20:05

Your IT - Mobility

Some have speculated that unlocked iPhones will arrive several months later, by which time a new 3G version of the iPhone will arrive to supersede the older model, which will itself then be delayed for several months before unlocked models go on sale.

But this seems to go against French law, so it looks like we’ll have to wait closer to November 29 to find out precisely what the situation with unlocked French iPhones will be, and what the actual prices are, not only for both models but also for the calling plans, with included minutes and unlimited EDGE data.

Another interesting question is how easily they will be able to have their language changed to English, or other languages. But most interesting of all is trying to figure out Apple’s true strategy.

Have they dealt with phone companies in the manner they have to build up incredible hype and demand from both consumers and phone companies in a way no other company has done before, ultimately planning to sell unlocked iPhones, with authorized third party apps, to anyone who wanted one?

If so, Apple certainly has entered the market in the most dramatic way possible and has made an incredible impact on the entire industry. But earning revenue from carriers could become less of a priority than earning revenue from taking a cut from third party apps sold through the iPhone store.

Or it could force Apple’s chosen carriers to offer very special additional services, such as the Visual Voicemail feature, or unlimited data plans, or a bundled number of iTunes tracks to download free per month, or some other features, to differentiate themselves from generic carriers.

Still, the desire to create this kind of revenue share with carriers might only be short lived. Nokia didn’t become the largest phone manufacturer in the world by taking a share of carriers’ revenues.

Newer iPhones are inevitably on the way, along with the clear potential for smaller iPhone nano’s and larger iPhone ‘Tablets’ as has already been rumoured – there’ll be plenty of anticipation for product releases or at least more information at January’s Macworld on these potential products – and for information on when Apple will start selling the iPhone in the rest of the world.

So, while it seems clear that an official unlocked iPhone will soon go on sale, at least in France, it seems just as certain that, as has happened with the decision to officially support third party apps (at least in some way for now starting Feb 08), unlocked iPhones will also eventually be a reality.

“Merci” to French laws for making it officially happen – if not yet for all – sooner than we all expected!