Only U.S. Apple retail stores getting iPhone 3G
If you want an iPhone 3G outside of the U.S., you won't find one at the Apple store.
(Credit: Apple)While Rogers, Canada's largest wireless carrier, has made few friends with its iPhone 3G rate plans, it's not the only foreign carrier that will have to go it alone with iPhone sales on Friday.
The Internet was all atwitter Tuesday with reports that Apple had decided to pull iPhone 3Gs from its six Canadian retail stores for Friday's launch, apparently in protest over Rogers' decision to not offer its iPhone 3G customers an unlimited data plan. Appleinsider said that Apple made the decision in a Monday night conference call after it grew "disgusted" with the rate plans, which require three-year contracts, offer very few minutes at the introductory rates, and lack the option for unlimited data usage.
While I wouldn't be surprised if Apple isn't very happy about how things have unfolded in Canada (see this piece by Macworld's Jim Dalrymple for a look at the Canadian iPhone zeitgeist), Apple isn't selling the iPhone at any of its retail stores outside the U.S. Canada joins the U.K., Italy, Australia and Japan as countries that will have to rely on Apple's carrier partners in those regions to purchase the iPhone 3G on Friday.
Earlier in the week, independent blogger Daniel Smith reported that Apple was diverting iPhone 3G stock from Canada to Europe in response to the controversial rate plans. Smith left himself a little wiggle room with his report, but it seems safe to assume that Apple and Rogers aren't best friends at the moment.
But given the worldwide launch plans for Friday, it seems a bit of a stretch to assume that Apple has decided to blame Canada for its rate plans when Apple isn't selling iPhones in any Apple retail stores outside of the U.S.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
None of this sounds quite right. With less than a week to go to launch, this sort of childish tactic by both Apple and Rogers suggests there is something else entirely going on and this is just a facade. Either way, it really ruins the Apple iPhone experience for Canada and nobody wins there except other CSP's offering competing products.
I wrote a bit more about it there if you are interested:
http://tinyurl.com/iphonenews
Frans
It appears, in fact, that Apple *never* intended to sell the iPhone in Apple Retail Stores outside of the U.S. With the new in-store activation requirements, I suspect they just felt that the complications of training their staff and integrating their systems with the various carriers probably outweighed the benefits provided by the few available retail locations.
The bottom line is that this is not news -- merely an attempt by some disgruntled Rogers customers (of which there are many, and for understandable reasons) to rumour-monger by distorting an existing situation.
Lastly, if Apple is so "unhappy" with Rogers' data rates, why are they not similarly unhappy with every other country with comparable, if not *higher* rates. I've heard no rumours of Apple pulling or diverting stock from New Zealand, Portugal, Mexico, or Germany, all of which have much more expensive iPhone plans than we do here in Canada.
The main reason there is such angst over Rogers' rates in Canada is because we're incessantly comparing ourselves to the U.S. rates, which are actually the *best* of any of the iPhone-carrying nations.
In reality, Rogers' data rates have *improved* about 900% over the past month even on their most basic data plans..... 200MB for $100 has now become 300MB for $30, for instance.
Frankly, I hate the cell industry. They are such fools when it comes to customer satisfaction.
Anyway, last friday my Razr failed to start. So, I figured I'd just wait a week and get a new iPhone. Went to the store and they told me the tale, $499. Frackin FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS! That is one hell of a long way from hearing that you can get an iPhone for $200. Oh, I know it's a different model with a few extra gigs and all but really the whole escapade is extremely distasteful. I wish they'd just get banned from selling phones. It is a highly anti-competitive enviroment and a sort of mini monopoly allowing phone companies to bundle phones and contracts. It really makes you feel you HAVE to sign a contract otherwise you're a fool spending too much money. But ... if all cell phones were purchased away from carrier's benches, we'd all get used to the higher prices and cell carriers might have to offer better service to entice us to sign up with them or perhaps they'd offer a straight rebate to folks willing to sign onto onerous contracts. Regardless, we would not be in this ridiculous era of not being able to buy something we want because we are FORCED to take something we don't want (longer contract or other crappy deal from the cell guys).
That's it.
I went and bought a go phone and plugged in my SIM.
T buy the device outright costs from $NZ979 for the 8, to $NZ1129 for the 16. It can then be fitted in with an existing account by adding a data plan. Buying an iPhone on a two year contract is possible on three different data plans.- the 250GB package costs $NZ80 a month with the two versions priced at $NZ549 and $NZ699 respectively. The most expensive monthly option comes with the lowest entry price--$NZ199 for the 8GB but $NZ250 a month with 1GB of data on a two year plan.
AND you have yet to make a call...........HELLO !!!!
- by drenk1976 July 9, 2008 2:10 AM PDT
- Not the greatest researched article. The second most Apple retail stores after the US are to be found in the UK and they WILL be selling the iPhone 3G, although only as a new connection and not to existing O2 customers.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(14 Comments)