True cost of the iPhone
So you like the iPhone and think you’ll buy one?
In the USA…
If you live in the USA then thanks to Cingular’s exclusive multi-year deal if you want an iPhone and go with their cheapest voice-only plan at $39.99 a month (which you have to pay for 24 months) you can expect your iPhone to cost you (assuming you can get out of your current contract without penalty):
4GB – $499 + $959 = $1,458
8GB – $599 + $959 = $1,558
Being that Cingular normally discount smartphones by around $150 when you take a contract I guess Apple could end up selling them for $599 and $699 once they are out of the Cingular deal. Hopefully this "exclusive deal" leaves the door open for Apple to sell them direct without a plan for a slightly higher price.
This guy believes the text, voicemail and Internet supplements needed push the monthly price up by another $35 a month!
Europe…
When Apple come to Europe signing such an exclusive deal could severely hamper adoption and gaining that elusive 1% worldwide market share. Europe is a massive patchwork of operators and people won’t want to switch and loose their number – especially the sort of heavy-use/business people they’re aiming for.
Perhaps we just have it cheaper in Europe for once?
My current plan costs around $30 a month and includes 50 free minutes, 50 free texts and gives a whopping $350 discount off a HTC TyTN smartphone when you take out an 18 month contract. On that basis the price would be:
$481 + $360 = $841
The user interface can’t touch the iPhone and it has less storage (for now, thanks to the microSD slot) but it is also UTMS/3G, can load third party apps, has instant messaging and also can connect to a Bluetooth GPS device to interact with third-party mapping software. I can also change the battery when things go bad if needed and it runs Skype – the second camera – the one on the front means I can video-call.
Nice try Apple but I’ll wait for the 3G iPhone – why not add some of these fun features in the mean-time ;-)
[)amien
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