Apple iPhone for $250? It could cost a lot more, nearly $1000!

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 16 June 2008 11:56

Your IT - Mobility

Although the iPhone will hit Australian shores on July 11, and although Steve Jobs noted there would be price parity worldwide, don’t take that as any guarantee of what the final iPhone 3G price will be. And that’s not even counting the monthly voice and data charges!

An article over at News.com.au says the 8GB iPhone 3G should cost around AUD $250, which is more or less in line with Steve Jobs’ comment that iPhones should see pricing parity around the world.

But the US $199 price (approx AUD $213 depending on the exchange rate) for the 8GB iPhone 3G and the US $299 price for the 16GB iPhone (approx AUD $318) is only the case if you purchase an iPhone on at AT&T style plan with a 24 month contract.

Add GST and other costs, and in theory, the 8GB iPhone should sell on a 24 month contract for AUD $250 upfront, and say $350 for a 16GB iPhone.

Then you need to add to cost of the 24 month plan, which according to Gizmodo, will cost US $39 per month for 450 minutes, US $30 per month for 'unlimited' data at 3G speeds and $5 per month for 200 sms messages.

That US $30 per month for data has actually increased by US $10 over the iPhone 2G, but given the massive boost in data usage that iPhone providers have seen thanks to the ease of web surfing the iPhone provides, it’s not unreasonable to see a telco compensated for that data usage while still offering what is nominally, at least, an ‘unlimited plan’.

Indeed, we can only hope that Optus and Vodafone will also offer an ‘unlimited’ data plan, rather than capping things at 1GB or 3GB or some other figure.

We’re also waiting to see what the price of the iPhone will be if purchased on a pre-paid plan.

While Vodafone has confirmed it will sell the iPhone both pre-paid and post-paid plans, it refuses to give any indication as yet of what the cost of a pre-paid iPhone will be, which necessarily comes with no upfront discounts as do contracted phones.

An excellent source of information on what to expect from Vodafone is another of Vodafone’s own companies – Vodafone Italy.

Please read on to page 2 to see just how much more expensive the iPhone 3G will be on a pre-paid plan! Would you be shocked to see a cost of nearly $1000? Read on!