Jobs keeping promise, French iPhone 3G to sell from €149

Stephen Withers
Friday, 27 June 2008 03:27

Your IT - Mobility

Those who purchased the original iPhone prior to the new model's announcement can switch to 3G at a net cost of €99 ($US156/$A163) after rebate, in return for a two-year contract renewal.

There's no word yet about deals for business customers or prepaid usage, let alone the legally-mandated unlocked price. Orange sold the original iPhones in unlocked form for €749 ($US1180/$A1234).

UK prices for prepaid iPhone 3Gs appeared briefly on O2's web site earlier this week. Although thrown into doubt by the removal of the information, it looks like O2 will be charging £300 ($US597/$A624) or £360 ($US716/$A749) respectively for the 8G and 16G version of Apple's new handset.

Japanese pricing of ¥23,040 ($US216/$A226) and ¥34,560 ($US324/$A338) was also announced earlier this week.

While Australian pricing has yet to be disclosed, it seems that somewhere around $A249 on contract is within the realms of possibility. Unlocked pricing is still anybody's guess, if it happens at all. The $A999 tag attached to the HTC Touch Diamond may indicate an upper bound, but if you take the supposed O2 prepaid price and add a typical unlocking fee, $A699 could be on the cards.