In the Philippines, an auction for the iPhone 3G

Philippines auction site Auction.ph is planning to make the Apple iPhone 3G available on the Web site, but issues such as product sourcing and potential carrier partnerships remain hazy.

In a press briefing Friday, Auction.ph--one of the country's pioneering auction sites--unveiled a special program to put the new iPhone for sale at an online auction.

(Credit: Auction.ph)

"It is a promo for our loyal users and online merchandisers," said Angelo Hernandez, public relations chief at Auction.ph. The executive said Auction.ph will initially auction off one iPhone 3G unit, with a starting price of "only" 1 peso (2 cents), at bidding increments of 0.5 peso.

Hernandez said the company expects a "lucky" bidder to snare the iPhone 3G--which goes on sale in the Philippines on Friday, August 22--at a cost far less than the announced price tag of the mobile device.

The appeal of purchasing the phone on the site, he said, is that Auction.ph already has a "fixed" price range for the iPhone 3G, from 1 peso to 5,000 pesos ($110). The price range is considerably cheaper than the 30,000 (US$663) price tag of the iPhone currently offered in the local market, he added.

Hernandez, however, remained mum on whether the Apple phone will be a regular item on the auction site.

Although it has a substantial user base, he said, Auction.ph has yet to initiate talks on how it will source for iPhone units and on possible partnership with local distributors and carriers.

"But we are open to this arrangement," Hernandez said, adding that the auction site has more than 1 million subscribers, including individual sellers, merchants, and bidders.

Auction.ph's CEO and founder, Oh Hyuk, started a similar auction site in South Korea that was eventually acquired by U.S. online giant eBay.

Local carrier Globe Telecom early this month announced that it will be the exclusive carrier for the iPhone 3G in the Philippines.

But the company received much flak after it unveiled pricing--the 8GB version of the Apple phone will be sold at 41,899 pesos ($926).

Globe eventually released a statement saying it will lower the prices of the iPhone models by 10 percent, prior to the product's official Philippine release this coming Friday.

The carrier noted that the price reductions will also be available to subscribers who have placed order reservations for the phone, but did not disclose the initial sales volume.

Joel D. Pinaroc, based in the Philippines, wrote this for ZDNet Asia.

[Seaspray0]

That's it?!? Slow day for news, Tom? Go sit in the corner with the guy who wrote that Big Foot story.

[techned]

"Local carrier Globe Telecom early this month announced that it will be the exclusive carrier for the iPhone 3G in the Philippines.
But the company received much flak after it unveiled pricing--the 8GB version of the Apple phone will be sold at 41,899 pesos ($926). "

Those f'in Globe crooks !!

A majority of the people there could hardly afford the 8Gb Iphone at the US price with AT&T service of $200.

Next time, I go home - I'll use SMART on my unlocked phone.

[critically_honest]

what a rip off. Techned is right. $926.00 is too much, even for an unlock version. (if there is such a unit). 10% reduction is like nothing too. If they sell you with a plan, price should go down in the $200 vicinity.

[supreme12567]

We are registered Company and the leading dealers in electronics and we do have 3G Apple iPhones 8GB and 16GB in stock for sale at US$400 and US$500 respectively.

Our iPhones are all Brand New/Unlocked,and in the latest firmware version and free to work with any of your preferred network..

We also give good discounts for more than a unit purchase and also free items..

BUY 2 UNITS 3G 8GB FOR JUST US$750
BUY 2 UNITS 3G 16GB FOR JUST US$900
(INCLUDING A FREE IPHONE)

OLD GENERATION IPHONES
Apple iPhone 4GB...US$200
Apple iPhone 8GB...US$300
Apple iPhone 16GB..US$400

WE ALSO HAVE NOKIA PHONES, HTC PHONES, AND OTHER BRANDS OF MOBILES INCLUDING IPODS.

Email: [e-mail]
[e-mail]

[finina_lim]

Hello...

I'm interested to buy an iPhone 3G 16GB. Where is the exact location of your store? How much is the last price? Could I pay for it using a credit card? You may text your answers to 09228819811.

Hope to hear from you asap.

Thanks in advance.

[gorgeousme]

i'm interested to buyan iphone 3g 16gb..how much is it now?