Crazy John's says Aussie iPhone 'not imminent'

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 10 January 2008 07:18

Your IT - Mobility

A report about what a phone store sales and marketing executive thinks regarding the iPhone’s arrival in Australia becomes ‘news’, showing that iPhone mania is still alive and well days before Macworld 2008 in the US.

Crazy John’s, an independent mobile phone retailer in Australia, has sourced an iPhone from overseas, jailbreaked it to run on the Vodafone network, reviewed it in their own publication, and has come to the conclusion that an Australian release is ‘not imminent’.

This news comes to us courtesy of News.com.au, who went to the trouble of calling Stephen Morley, the sales and marketing manager of Crazy John’s, after seeing the iPhone reviewed in their publication, only to hear him say that: “I don’t believe the product is imminent here in Australia”.

Morley went on to explain that they have been testing a range of ‘products’ over the past 6-8 weeks, whether or not they intend to sell them in their stores.

Of course, given the fact that Apple has chosen its retail partners very carefully, Crazy John’s change of status from a Telstra reseller to an independent phone seller with their own MVNO network would seem to instantly preclude them from ever being able to officially sell an iPhone ever.

Overseas, Apple has only allowed stores of its carrier partners to sell iPhones, or official partners of those telecommunications companies, such as the Carphone Warehouse in the UK, who works closely with O2.

If Apple’s policies on who can sell iPhones is to change, Crazy John’s might then be allowed to officially sell iPhones. Given Apple’s stance so far, believing that Crazy John’s will ever sell iPhones just seems, well... crazy, John.

So, when is the iPhone expected in Australia and what do the rumours say? Please read onto page 2 to continue...