Slashdot Mirror
iPhone Business Model Hits a Snag in France
Serhei writes "It seems like the iPhone might not be released in France by this holiday season, since French requires by law that all cell phones sold there must be obtainable in an unlocked version. Apple will not be able to do so, since it has launched with a 5-year exclusivity agreement with AT&T. That deal will probably require exclusivity worldwide to avoid grey-market imports. (In return for this agreement Apple receives a large share of AT&T's monthly revenues from iPhone subscribers.) If the iPhone falls through in France, the country can join Belgium and a potentially long list of other countries with unlocking laws, whose Apple fans will have to make do with other, less Apple-y phones. Note that there is currently no mention of the iPhone on the Apple France page."
In the end, the iPhone has turned out to be a real disaster. It's Steve Jobs' Segway. He signed the deal with Satan himself (AT&T), and done onerous things which has absolutely killed all the fan base that Apple spent years building up. If only the they hadn't gotten greedy and wanted shares of the monthly phone charges, then they could have released a universal unlocked iPhone and everyone would have been happy.
Too bad. I got an N95.
Hey BITCH, you MOCK Slashdot with your little "reality" and your silly "facts". Go home to MOMMA!
You miss the point. See, the iPhone sucks. This is beyond being a matter of opinion, it is a universally accepted fact among those who do not have their heads lodged up their ass. With the iPhone not an option, French customers who don't know any better will have to "settle" for a phone that doesn't suck. Get it now?
Offended Yank: "The French would all be talking on Nazi or Soviet bricks if it weren't for the USA!"