Will consumers be willing to pay such a high price for the "iPhone" that is not tied to the UPDATE carrier?
On November 21, local time, T-Mobile decided to comply with a provisional injunction issued by the court at the request of rival Vodafone. As a result, T-Mobile has decided to sell unsubscribed handsets in Germany for $ 1,478. The company will continue to challenge the court's decision, but limiting phone calls to specific operators seems to violate German law.
According to the T-Mobile website, "there are still many features available only to T-Mobile customers who use the price plan'Complete'." But the only feature the company mentioned was available only on the T-Mobile network was visual voice mail. T-Mobile also states that it has a more complete EDGE network than its competitors, but users looking to switch to other operators, such as Vodafone, will find data in their city or town. It doesn't matter if you can access it.
It's interesting how much people consider an unlocked iPhone to be worth it. According to Reuters, the current iPhone will have to sign up for a two-year T-Mobile contract in Germany, which will cost $ 2330. The service plan is $ 1740 and the iPhone itself is $ 590. T-Mobile said it will also offer iPhone contracts locked to its network, and this special iPhone pricing plan will apply to other data-enabled mobile phones offered by T-Mobile as well. It's 40% cheaper than.
Unlocking mobile phones is a matter of personal freedom. Many people want to buy their favorite phone and choose their favorite service provider to use it. You won't be tied to Comcast or AT & T's broadband network for 24 months after buying a new PC or Mac. On the contrary, there may be some users who are not particular about service providers and want to use the trendy iPhone at the lowest possible price.
Perhaps one thing is certain: half of mobile phone resellers around the world have booked flights to Germany. Unlocking the iPhone hasn't been a daunting task in the past, but it requires software changes and must accommodate software updates from Apple, such as the infamous OS X 1.1.1 update. rice field. A brand new, factory-unlocked iPhone may be priced higher than the one that was jailbroken and unlocked the current way.
But can it be priced over $ 1500 to enable resale? I have no idea, but I can never think of paying that much just to use a phone that does not have a 3G data network or GPS function on a network other than a specific company. Even if you pay that much, you have to pay at least $ 50 a month to one of the operators to use the phone. Even if someone offers a cheap data plan of around $ 50, I'm not convinced to pay $ 2678 over two years compared to $ 2330 for T-Mobile's two-year contract.
This, of course, wouldn't be a coincidence. T-Mobile may have to offer an unlocked iPhone, but there's clearly no limit on how much the company should charge for it. And if Apple asks T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom for a sales-sharing agreement similar to the one it had with AT & T, the two companies must find some way to ensure that Apple is profitable.
Apple and Orange (and fruits) need to offer an unlocked iPhone in the French market to comply with the country's communications laws. According to the International Herald Tribune, the iPhone will be available next week at a "premium" price. You might know how much a premium is, but are people willing to pay that much?
This article is a compilation of news from overseas CNET Networks by the editorial department of CNET Networks Japan for Japan.To overseas CNET Networks article