Apple unveils iPhone 4 price in Australia - for 16GB model only

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 27 July 2010 00:17

Your IT - Mobility

Apple’s case for many more iPhone 4 sales begins in earnest from Friday the 30th of July, when 17 more countries get what will surely be quickly sold-out stocks of its iPhone 4, presumably with a free case to help close the AntennaGate after the bad horse of publicity had already bolted. UPDATE: AUD $999 price now announced for 32GB iPhone 4 since publication.

Apple, the world’s crunchiest consumer electronics maker, is finally launching the iPhone 4 in even more countries, with 17 soon to have queues around Apple Stores or authorised resellers, if queues haven’t formed already.

Despite the AntennaGate scandal, which Apple’s Australian press release makes absolutely no mention of, (not even the free bumper case that was one of the stars of Apple’s recent emergency press conference), the iPhone 4 has been a stellar sales success thus far while finally introducing native video calling, over Wi-Fi, for the iPhone generation.

The 17 new countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, a list that was conveniently alphabetised by Apple for release to the press, in its press release.

As always, with Apple keen to maintain its mysterious mystique, the full story of pricing for the iPhone 4, in local dollars, isn’t fully known, although as you’d expect the phone will be available in Apple’s physical and online stores and authorised resellers which includes telecommunications companies.

Part of the story is known because Apple has revealed it, with the iPhone 4 “starting from AUD $859”, something that can only be in reference to the black 16GB version, with the white version having been further delayed.

The black 32GB iPhone 4 will probably retail for either just under or just over AUD $1000, but it looks like we’ll have to wait until sometime on Friday to find out, unless it is leaked earlier. Guesses online that I've seen are for $1029 or even $1049... will Apple surprise us with a sub $1000 price? Probably not.

UPDATE: Apple Australia did indeed surprise with a sub AUD $1000 for the iPhone 4 - it will retail outright and unlocked from Apple for $999.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 3GS gets relegated to a capacity of 8GB only, and sees its price lowered to AUD $719, but is unavailable in other sizes – you’ll need to upgrade to an iPhone 4 for that.

Those in countries not on the current list will either have to import one from overseas, find a local grey importer or get one from eBay, but Apple assures us that “iPhone 4 will roll out to many more countries later this year and Apple will announce availability and local pricing for these additional countries at a later date.”

Apple takes the time to remind us that: “iPhone 4 features FaceTime, which makes video calling as easy as one tap, Apple’s new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in stunning text, images and video, and a beautiful all-new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world.”

 

Concluded on page two, please read on!