iPhone Japan and Other International Pricing
Japanese mobile carrier Softbank announced pricing for the iPhone 3G which will be launched on July 11th, 2008. Softbank will sell the iPhone 3G for 23,040 yen ($214.6) with a monthly charge of 7,280 yen ($67). The service plan provides unlimited data usage and also allows subscribers to talk free between Softbank subscribers for most of the day. This is 70% higher than the average rate plan in Japan of 4,310 yen ($40). Softbank believes they will be able to attract new users to their service:
Softbank warns that they expect the first supply to "evaporate instantly" and "we in the company will probably fight to get one as well."
Meanwhile, details of other international pricing and service plans have been emerging, including (unconfirmed):
- UK PAYG iPhone priced at 370
- One Australian customer completed an online survey about phones and price plans and listed the iPhone at $220 upfront and $80/mo service plan but may just be speculative pricing.
- iPhone Mexico rates leaked?
- Vodafone and TIM (Italy) announced unsubsidized pricing 499 and 569 euro (8GB and 16GB).
"We expect users who pay a lot to migrate from au (KDDI's mobile arm) and DoCoMo," Son told a group of reporters. "There have been users who were just attracted to our low price, but the main point this time is feature attractiveness rather than price."
DoCoMo was also in talks with Apple and has "not given up on talks".Softbank warns that they expect the first supply to "evaporate instantly" and "we in the company will probably fight to get one as well."
Meanwhile, details of other international pricing and service plans have been emerging, including (unconfirmed):
- UK PAYG iPhone priced at 370
- One Australian customer completed an online survey about phones and price plans and listed the iPhone at $220 upfront and $80/mo service plan but may just be speculative pricing.
- iPhone Mexico rates leaked?
- Vodafone and TIM (Italy) announced unsubsidized pricing 499 and 569 euro (8GB and 16GB).
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48 months ago
Not too shabby, pretty close to what it is everywhere else.
Hopefully there are a lot of people who buy. I think Apple may very well crush their 10 million goal.
Hopefully there are a lot of people who buy. I think Apple may very well crush their 10 million goal.
48 months ago
The standalone UK price for the iPhone isn't too bad at all actually. It may seem expensive if you're used to buying your typical cheap Pay As You Go phone or buying a phone on contract (where the handset cost is subsidised).
But compared to a similar high end phone, the Nokia N95 on o2 for example, it's cheaper than the £449 for the Nokia. I was expecting the phone to be more along the lines of £500-600 as most high end, SIM free phones are when they first come out. So this is a pleasant surprise.
An Apple product being cheaper than you'd expect? Whatever next ... :eek:
But compared to a similar high end phone, the Nokia N95 on o2 for example, it's cheaper than the £449 for the Nokia. I was expecting the phone to be more along the lines of £500-600 as most high end, SIM free phones are when they first come out. So this is a pleasant surprise.
An Apple product being cheaper than you'd expect? Whatever next ... :eek:
48 months ago
The "70% higher than the average price" claim is somewhat misleading. I've had contracts with both KDDI and SoftBank's older incarnation (Vodafone Japan), and there was no realistic unlimited data transfer option. On my current KDDI plan, I pay an extra 1000 yen (~$11) a month on top of my plan for a certain set number of packets, including e-mail and mobile web, but not including the normal internet. That scales up to 4500 yen (~50) a month if I use e-mail and the mobile web a lot, but stops there.
The trick is, that excludes use of the internet. Even though I get internet on my phone, I have to pay for internet data transfer from the first time I access a single site. The cost is prohibitive and never stops going up. And most people do use more than 1000 yen of packets, and some people do use the internet.
Thus, the basic 4300 a month cited is for very limited use of e-mail and no internet - not a realistic usage pattern in Japan. The iPhone price is very low for the inclusion of unlimited data transfer.
The trick is, that excludes use of the internet. Even though I get internet on my phone, I have to pay for internet data transfer from the first time I access a single site. The cost is prohibitive and never stops going up. And most people do use more than 1000 yen of packets, and some people do use the internet.
Thus, the basic 4300 a month cited is for very limited use of e-mail and no internet - not a realistic usage pattern in Japan. The iPhone price is very low for the inclusion of unlimited data transfer.
48 months ago
Great info..
In my opinion prices for Mexico are quite reasonable... $80 per month with 700 mins and unlimited internet plus free 8GB iPhone Sounds good!
In my opinion prices for Mexico are quite reasonable... $80 per month with 700 mins and unlimited internet plus free 8GB iPhone Sounds good!
48 months ago
Was informed yesterday that the 3G iPhone will sell between AU$299-399 outright to smash the market meaning that the touch will prob drop by 50 percent in price. Lets hope so.
48 months ago
Yet nothing confirmed about US prices yet *sigh*....:(
US?
Confirmed:
- With a two-year contract, the price of an 8GB iPhone 3G will be $199*; the 16GB model will be priced at $299*
- Unlimited iPhone 3G data plans for consumers will be available for $30 a month, in addition to voice plans starting at $39.99 a month.
- Unlimited 3G data plans for business users will be available for $45 a month, in addition to a voice plan.
* for most people
arn
48 months ago
we'll see how japan adopts the iphone now since their phones are usually crammed with way more features than we have. will probably take off, but i wonder how a phone without picture messaging or a smart phone without disk mode or document editing will be. it's a step back 5 years in the u.s., prob a decade in japan.
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