Rogers ensures BlackBerry no iPhone killer with Bold pricing

Davey Winder
Saturday, 16 August 2008 17:43

Your IT - Mobility

There was a big enough fuss when Rogers announced the pricing of the iPhone 3G. Just watch as the fan turns brown as the cost of the BlackBerry Bold leaks out...

Rogers Wireless is, surprise surprise, the exclusive carrier for the forthcoming BlackBerry Bold 9000 in Canada. Rogers appears determined to prevent it from being the iPhone killer as many had predicted.

Sure it still looks good in the pictures, and check the details and there's still the 1GB of internal memory, and the GPS, and the WiFi and tri-band HSDPA, and the keyboard.

Unfortunately, there is also the price.

CrackBerry.com has managed to get its hands on a leaked flyer apparently showing the pricing for the new BlackBerry.

You would need to have a bold budget to afford it with prices starting at $399.

That is $100 more than a 16GB iPhone 3G, and I haven't even revealed the really shocking bit yet. Now you might expect, having been asked to cough up the cash bigtime for the handset, that the contract would be fairly attractive as a consequence.

Expect all you like, but if this leaked flyer proves to be correct when the BlackBerry Bold launches in a couple of weeks time, then Rogers will tie you into a 3 year deal!

I suspect you will need a sturdy chair with a big comfy cushion when details of the one and two year contract pricing are revealed, and a bed with a nurse on standby for the contract-free handset cost.

If you have a strong constitution, and a stronger bank balance, then the BlackBerry Sync blog reckons it knows the contract-free price: $1000!!!

Now that is not just Bold, that's bloody outrageous...