3G iPhone Expected in June

MaineCoasts writes "The Times Online reports that European sellers of the iPhone are braced for 'significant losses' on unsold inventories of first-generation iPhones which must be cleared away for the new 3G versions expected in June. The three European distributors of the iPhone 'sold 330,000 units to the end of December, but industry sources say that European sales of the iPhone were forecast to be between 500,000 and 600,000.'"

Comments

Unlocked

[chiller2]

Until the phone is available unlocked it's worthless to me. I need to travel between the US and UK, and don't want to have to pay extortionate roaming fees when I already have sims for networks either side.

Re:The ridiculous monthly fees

[Naughty Bob]

Just prove that most of us europeans aren't retarded enough to fall for their stupid pricing schemes. I bet that we Europeans are retarded enough, but we have a much healthier marketplace for the moment.

Not to be pessimistic, but I can only imagine that O2, T-Mobile and Orange are looking at their excess inventory, looking across at the US market with envious eyes, and are then beginning to try to figure out how they can conspire to handicap the EU market, just like US politicians have been paid to do over there.

£100 price drop in the UK

[ItsIllak]

The three UK retailers (Apple, 02 and Carphone Warehouse) have all dropped the price from £269 to £169 a few days ago. They claim this price is valid till the 1st of June. It's still stupidly priced - I can go into a shop, buy one for £169, go home, jailbreak it and that's it. If I follow what they want me to do and sign up for the semi-unrelated contract, I get screwed for £35/month and for some reason have to agree to being screwed monthly.

By comparison, my current phone contract which gave me a free HTC Tytn II is £15/month for free internet and £60+ worth of calls and texts.

Say no to the new pricing model - if you have to, buy an iPhone, but get another phone for free on a new contract and sell it to recoup the costs.

Re:The ridiculous monthly fees

[Frag-A-Muffin]

Just prove that most of us europeans aren't retarded enough to fall for their stupid pricing schemes. I would never buy a fucking phone for 18.000 sek of which only 3.000 sek or so was payed at purchase.

Nerd as I am I don't have any friends, girls and don't do phone calls. So the "services" I get for the monthly fee are more or less completely useless. Just give me the gadget!

I've been thinking about getting one and unlock it but I'm to lazy to read how it's done, but I've got the impression it's easy and you can do it yourself nowadays? But I don't think they are sold in Sweden yet so I still have to buy it from some other place and then someone have probably already unlocked it and try to earn some cash on it.

I'm from Canada, and perhaps it's a blessing that it isn't available in Canada yet :)

I purchased mine in the states and unlocked it to use with Rogers. I've done a bunch for friends too. Gets easier by the day (Thank iphone dev team!)

Anyways, my point is, It's probably cheaper if you buy one from somewhere else and unlock it and use it on your own terms. No pesky contracts, you pick the plan that you want (or keep your existing plan).

I've never used my cellphone so much before the iPhone. It just does so much. It's an amazing device.

Just my $0.02 CAD.

Re:The ridiculous monthly fees

[Concerned Onlooker]

I see your point. I mean, who really wants to pay a monthly fee for a phone? I think what you're looking for is the iPod Touch.

Re:The ridiculous monthly fees

[Lemmy Caution]

Don't you think that unlockability (without voiding warranties) is a major issue for European consumers? Swapping SIMs when traveling is something that seems taken for granted. Even my can-barely-turn-on-her-computer mother-in-law does it when she travels between England and Spain.

Re:The ridiculous monthly fees

[UnxMully]

I suspect you've misunderstood the saying "I'll be fucked if I'd pay that much for an iPhone."

only 3G

[gEvil (beta)]

But I can already get a 16G iPhone now. What's the big deal?

Phones doesn't require monthly fees.

[aliquis]

No, since it just cost slightly less and have much less functionallity. Also I would so much prefer the new Sony mp3-players, cowon d2, Sansa Clip/Fuze, over an iPod.

Over here you can buy a card with credits on it which you spend if you make phone calls, so it's easy to have a cellular phone which doesn't cost anything / month if you don't use it. Or you can get a real cheap subscription with free calls within the network and eventually other networks and/or landlines to.

If I could get the iPhone for 3000 sek as a gadget and then only pay for the phone calls I would actually make I would probably have gotten one by now.

Sources My Ass

[His Shadow]

Are these the same "sources" that attempted to screw with Apple's stock price by inventing a "whisper number" of one million expected iPhone sales at release when numbers of expected sales were in the 150 to 350 thousand mark?