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No PAYG=No iPhone

Nye

Nye

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 2, 2007
28
0
Obviously, the iPhone will be big. Im not saying that the iPhone is useless and has no decent features - of course it does - it is made by Apple. The only thing that is bothering me and, im sure, nearly everyone across the world is its price. Why so much? You have to pay for the phone itself - $499 or $599 AND THEN pay $60 + EVERY MONTH for minutes etc. In the UK, it is simple - if you want a phone on contract, you get it from Vodafone or Orange per say, you pay £30+ for the contract and you get the phone for free. Yet if you dont want a contract, you buy a phone on Pay as you Go for around £100-200 ($200-$400) and then pay for the minutes, SMS and internet you use. It would be so much better if Apple had a PAYG and contract iPhone for people to choose what suits them best! I reckon that Apple are trying to attract business phone users with this generation of iPhone to get its sales up and will then introduce cheaper iPhones (iPhone nano or even shuffle) in the future on PAYG and contract with fewer features than the current gen. Sorry for the long rant everyone, just wanted to get it off my chest! Sorry Apple - no iPhone for me if there is a contract and a charge for the iPhone AND an activation charge! Ill wait for the 2nd Gen iPhone, thank you!:mad:
 
Can you find me a free phone that is as good / close to the iPhone? And also a pay as you go phone? Thanks


-nickspohn
 
you definitively sound like your from the UK, from reading various other threads it looks like the approach to Mobile phones and contracts in America is very much different to Europe. We do things differently, and we don't know how the Iphone is going to be sold in our part of the world. Your rants slightly pointless (although with good points) until we know how its going to be sold here.
 
Ummm... obviously you're not familiar with how cell contracts work over here in the United States... What you're describing is how most every phone works (with the exception of the pas as you go ones).

And if you could find me a smartphone as good as the iPhone for free, I'd be very impressed
 
Well if Apple plays the UK phone market the same way it goes down over in America then Apple will fail over here. IMHO Of course :p
 
The plans in Europe may be very different. I wouldn't read too much into the plans here in the US and think about what that might mean in the UK or Europe.

Our prices and plans for all the other phones are different in the US, why not the iPhone? Plus you won't have AT&T, anyway. Our plans are a joint arrangement between Apple and AT&T. Elsewhere, it will be different companies all together (obviously)

Also, the pricing models are different here. For example, isn't it true that if a land line user calls a mobile phone in the UK, the land line user pays a premium for that call? (in other words, he bears part of the cost of the other user's mobility?) I know that used to be the case, is that still true?

So I think the models are very different, and the consumer expectations are certainly different. Generally speaking, pay per use or pre-pay plans in the US are usually sold to people with insufficient credit or very unusual calling patterns (emergency use only phones, that sort of thing.)
 
What makes you think Apple's partners in Europe, or anywhere else in the world, will operate exactly the same way as Cingular in the US?
 
Apple stated that to get the iPhone in the first six-months will REQUIRE a contract. After which you can get it as a Pay-as-you-Go phone or just replace an existing phone (with iPhone data attached) without extending a contract. I expect that it will be similar when iPhone moves to the EU and Canada, but it all depends on the exclusivity deal that is hammered out.

TEG
 
Original poster - thats not true.

Proper high end phones such as the P990 always cost money at launch on a contract. I remember paying £200 for my P910 a few years ago.
 
Mac-Addict said:
Well if Apple plays the UK phone market the same way it goes down over in America then Apple will fail over here. IMHO Of course :p
Click to expand...

of course, north america is so far behind in wireless tech its not even funny.

no 3G = no sale
locked = no sale (in asia, its actaully HARD to find a locked phone over there, you really have to want to get screwed over)
feature set isnt going to fly over there when the N95 and TyTN are free from T-MO
2year contract aint gonna fly either
no 3rd party software? nuh uh.

of course apple knows this and will probably change the phone, but what about US Customers? they are really gonna get pissed if apple makes everything unlocked overseas but not in the US
 
Project said:
Original poster - thats not true.

Proper high end phones such as the P990 always cost money at launch on a contract. I remember paying £200 for my P910 a few years ago.
Click to expand...

really? thats only $400 USD
are all high end phones around £200 at launch?
 
pr5owner said:
yeah almost all "SMART" phones are free even the most expensive ones (nokia N95 and X7500). the contract isnt bad at all, 18mo, not even 24 like the iphone.

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-phones/phones/pay-monthly/all/1/
Click to expand...


With the link you provided, the N95 is free with an 18 month, £57 ($100) a month contract

So lets say you take the iPhone difference of $40 ($60 a month), multiply that by the 18 months = an extra $720.

Really, there isnt much difference in these things. The 'free' options you see in the UK require much steeper contracts.
 
pr5owner said:
really? thats only $400 USD
are all high end phones around £200 at launch?
Click to expand...


It depends on what contract you opt for. The price varies from free to around £200. If you take the free option, the monthly call plan is very expensive.

Our plans are generally ore expensive than the US plans. Thats where the UK companies make their money from contract deals. For instance, free mobile to mobile (per carrier) isnt common here, or is unlimited data.
 
If there was anyone else with a comparable phone then Apple would be forced to atleast look into the price, With out other similar phones the parts will cost more. THe price of the iPhone is really simple economics.
 
TEG said:
Apple stated that to get the iPhone in the first six-months will REQUIRE a contract. After which you can get it as a Pay-as-you-Go phone or just replace an existing phone (with iPhone data attached) without extending a contract. I expect that it will be similar when iPhone moves to the EU and Canada, but it all depends on the exclusivity deal that is hammered out.

TEG
Click to expand...

This is great news for me! Where did it come from? I don't remember reading it anywhere?

I've no need for all the minutes they provide and would probably only rarely use the EDGE network. I just want a mobile browser and email on the go. There are plenty of free wifi hotspots around.

AT&T wants the contracts and Apple wants to sell the phones so it makes perfect sense to me that there would be a time limit involved where it would only be available under contract.

Maybe I'll get one as a delayed winter solstice present!
 
I have a hard time believing you have given an accurate overview of the UK market. I know many things are very different over there, but your picture of the UK phone market is akin to the teenage market in the US. I don't buy that being the full picture.
 
Project said:
It depends on what contract you opt for. The price varies from free to around £200. If you take the free option, the monthly call plan is very expensive.

Our plans are generally ore expensive than the US plans. Thats where the UK companies make their money from contract deals. For instance, free mobile to mobile (per carrier) isnt common here, or is unlimited data.
Click to expand...

very true that you need a higher end contract (both voice and data) however, how much is the N95 retail price? its more than the iphone actually, also how much is an X7500? some people are charging $1300 for that thing!
 
marksman said:
I have a hard time believing you have given an accurate overview of the UK market. I know many things are very different over there, but your picture of the UK phone market is akin to the teenage market in the US. I don't buy that being the full picture.
Click to expand...

Historically Europe has had much higher per minute rates and that's the number one reason why texting took off there and didn't in the US. The contract plans are great for people who use their phone a lot but for those who only occasionally use it, contracts are a total ripoff. Also, with sim cards, it's very easy to change carriers when you cross a border, something very useful to Europeans but since few Americans travel outside of North America, it's not a big deal.

Trust me, it's an entirely different market with an entirely different set of rules.
 
Nye said:
Obviously, the iPhone will be big. Im not saying that the iPhone is useless and has no decent features - of course it does - it is made by Apple. The only thing that is bothering me and, im sure, nearly everyone across the world is its price. Why so much? You have to pay for the phone itself - $499 or $599 AND THEN pay $60 + EVERY MONTH for minutes etc. In the UK, it is simple - if you want a phone on contract, you get it from Vodafone or Orange per say, you pay £30+ for the contract and you get the phone for free. Yet if you dont want a contract, you buy a phone on Pay as you Go for around £100-200 ($200-$400) and then pay for the minutes, SMS and internet you use. It would be so much better if Apple had a PAYG and contract iPhone for people to choose what suits them best! I reckon that Apple are trying to attract business phone users with this generation of iPhone to get its sales up and will then introduce cheaper iPhones (iPhone nano or even shuffle) in the future on PAYG and contract with fewer features than the current gen. Sorry for the long rant everyone, just wanted to get it off my chest! Sorry Apple - no iPhone for me if there is a contract and a charge for the iPhone AND an activation charge! Ill wait for the 2nd Gen iPhone, thank you!:mad:
Click to expand...
Apple has never really cared that much about business users.

As to cost of the phone, virtually all US carriers have the same deal, where you sign a contract, then get some relatively lame phone for free. The iPhone doesn't fall into that category. It's a premium phone and people should expect to pay premium prices. They point is./..Apple only makes the phone. They don't have anything to do with the wireless plan. They sell the phone for $499 because they can. If and when they can't sell it for that much, they'll sell it for less.
 
I think there's a real misunderstanding between US and European users on this board. US technology isn't the greatest and carrier service isn't either.

Historically Europe has had much higher per minute rates and that's the number one reason why texting took off there and didn't in the US. The contract plans are great for people who use their phone a lot but for those who only occasionally use it, contracts are a total ripoff. Also, with sim cards, it's very easy to change carriers when you cross a border, something very useful to Europeans but since few Americans travel outside of North America, it's not a big deal.
Click to expand...

That sounds about right. I really don't know very many people who text (SMS or MMS) as pretty much everyone just uses IM services or straight up calls. I wish I could find a reason to text more often but I don't really see a need to.

The iPhone is really the first phone that's receiving mass market appeal at a $500 price tag. Sure, the RAZR was $500 too but it was more low key until the price started dropping and they started really subsidizing it.

As for receiving free N95 here in the States, yeah right. A $750 phone for free with a 2 year contract? I'd be all over that in a second.
 
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