RSST-Mobile will sell unlocked, contract-less iPhone
By the Betanews Staff | Published November 21, 2007, 11:19 AM
T-Mobile said Wednesday that it will sell the iPhone in Germany without a contract, complying with a court injunction against it. In addition, it will unlock any phone bought since November 19 -- the date of the ruling -- at no charge, so that the device can be used with other carriers. However, the company has asked the courts to clarify the injunction so it may change its offer to consumers based upon that.
Consumers will gain the option to purchase the device without the two year contract for €999, or about $1,478 USD. In all cases, contract or not, T-Mobile will unlock any iPhone purchased after the ruling. The process is apparently different in Germany than it is here in the US. American consumers may purchase the iPhone sans contract for a flat price of $399, whereas in Germany, consumers are apparently forced to purchase the contract first and the phone second.
LOL. Id rather just buy a phone that just works, no BS. Again with the price tags, 999€? Why not a nice round 1000€ instead?
iPhone must be one hellava phone.
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|"iPhone must be one hellava phone."
I think that's where your wrong.
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|1.5k for a phone and has Apple's logo on it? That's a steal.
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|This just goes to show that companies will do whatever it takes to get a product out there. Think this is fair to those in the usa? Most people pay about that much after the cost of the hone plus a two year service plan. So its not cheaper or more expensive.
This really blew me away when I saw the iphone couldn't be tied to one carrier in other countries. Imagine how many more iphones Apple would sell it was open? I know I would of bought one and stuck with Verizon. I am not interested in moving mobile phone carriers.
No doubt though Apple knew this phone was going to be huge so they wanted to have carriers bid for it by offering incentives. At&t is giving them not only phone profits, but part of the monthly rate per phone plan as well. Think any other phone maker has that kind of influence or power?
I don't know the numbers but At&t gains hundreds of thousands of new customers just for the iphone alone. I have no doubt other carriers are kicking themselves for not making a better offer.
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|I seriously don't think the iphone is $1478 with no contract. Here I thought the two year contract was a bit pricey !. A 16gb ipod touch is $399. As far as I was concerned, I thought the only thing you couldn't do with the ipod touch is make phone calls.
I like Apple products, but this smells like an a** load of profits for Apple and cell carriers !
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|Vodafone wasn't all that happy with the exlusive rights for T-mobile and brought the case into court. The judge ruled that T-mobile should also offer the phone without contract. It'still available for 399 euro's with contract.
The same counts for France too where Orange made the iPhone available without a contact for a thousand euro's.
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|$1,478?
Insane!
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|Not really - that's a two-year contract as well, presumably with some standard service/data package. That's $123 a month, including the phone purchase. Maybe higher than the US (I don't know personally) but not as shocking as it first seems.
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|Actually it's WITHOUT a contract, as it says...
"Consumers will gain the option to purchase the device without the two year contract for €999, or about $1,478 USD"
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|damn I wish they would unlock our phones in here Japan if we pay that much.
I'd pay like $2000 or more to get mine unlocked.
bleh
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|You can unlock your phones free in Japan if it’s not a feature locked phone. It's the features that locks them (they won’t unlock a phone that the manufacturer has features built into the phone for a specific network hence the gdma similar networks and ever increasingly popular simless phones). They build phones for the network providers, unfortunatly they dont just build phones and then sell them to whoever. The laws are very tight.
Get a simple phone, can use it on any network.
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|Well apple are in it to make money :)
They dont need to have cheap prices, people buy their products regardless
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|why would I pay $2000 for a simple phone?
lol
the reason I'm willing to pay $2000 is that I like the features they got on these phones.
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|I wonder if the iPhone in Germany will upload the address book content to an AT&T/NSA server like the USA version does.
iPhone a Trojan Horse For Government Surveillance?
http://www.prisonplanet....7iphonesurveillance.htm
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|oh, shut up.
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