You also make assumptions about me --- I made 2 quick typing mistakes (simlocking instead of unlocked and Sweden instead of Finland) and you jumped all over me.
You shouldn't be arguing with me about France's simlocking laws. You should be standing beside me arguing that France's simlocking laws don't really work if it only results in a 750 euro unlocked iphone. You should be standing beside me arguing that the high iphone price (both handset and plans) is the result in French's telecom policy in allowing only 3 national carriers (and all 3 are French owned). Liberalize the French telecom industry by allowing a fourth carrier that may or may not be foreign owned would be the way to go.
Sweden's telecom regulator (PTS) handed out 3G licenses by "beauty contest" --- blew up in their face. The past 2 years --- PTS did a 180 and has been auctioning spectrum space ever since.
Samab my friend, and I hope you do not mind me calling you this. Let's start over. If I jumped on you hard, please accept my apologies.
Now, I agree with you about the telecom laws. They are not in the best interest of anyone. In my honest opinion, I think it would be interesting to see what kind of one day or one week shut down we, the comsumers, could manufacture that would let the telcos, Apple, MS, et al that they are only in biz because of us. They are not doing us a favor by taking out money.
The article title reads: "O2 Pay & Go iPhones start at 299 euro, make data optional" and then the piece continues: "Apple's exclusive iPhone carrier in the UK announced Wednesday that its Pay & Go customers can purchase a new iPhone 3G without a monthly contract for just 299 euro, but that data use isn't guaranteed with the plans."
Meanwhile, later on, the pricing structure is quoted as: "'The new 3G 8GB iPhone for Pay & Go will be available for £299.99 and 16GB for £359.99,' O2 said in a statement on its tariffs website, with normal calls costing 5p per minute."
So let's get this straight:
£299.99 = ?378.99 = $598.33
£359.99 = ?454.79 = $717.99
Hardly a need to sell a phone SIM locked, if it's not subsidized, they make the money on the mark-up, sales commission, or increase in customers and volume of sales. Further, SIM locking will likely not last long.
So is it worth it? Depends if you rather deal with one-time expenses and lower monthly payments or not.
Subsidies plus sales margin are $717.99-$299.99=$418, respectively $598.22-$199=$399.33
So in the $400 range. Rumors are that AT&T pays Apple $325/phone, which means O2 earns about $75-$95/phone in sales.
It also means, if you get one of these, it takes you 3.5 years (more counting the interest) of using the phone until you recoup the savings of sticking with your old iPhone plan. Given that AT&T won't have to pay any subsidies, and given that you'd be likely be eligible for a new subsidized model before three years are over, it's also somewhat likely that AT&T would not much object to people buying such phones and using their existing iPhone calling plan. Interest counted, it takes just about three years until AT&T recovers the reported subsidy payments by means of higher monthly plan charges, and by then you could get a new, similarly subsidized phone, and the clock would start ticking from scratch.
So it's a matter if you want to decide to rather spend spare cash in a lump sum, and end up with a smaller more managable monthly budget in a less predictable future, or if you simply do math and figure you'll have predictable income, and thus simply go with what's likely overall the cheaper approach (getting a subsidized phone from AT&T).
Personally, I rather have smaller monthly payments and decide based on disposable funds if/when I spend a large amount of money for a luxury item, rather than be stuck in what's in essence a cloaked financed payment plan that obliges me to montly payments in a potentially uncertain future. To be debt free and to be able to end the contract at any time past the next year is adding to piece of mind in financially potentially turbulent times.
The article title reads: "O2 Pay & Go iPhones start at 299 euro, make data optional" and then the piece continues: "Apple's exclusive iPhone carrier in the UK announced Wednesday that its Pay & Go customers can purchase a new iPhone 3G without a monthly contract for just 299 euro, but that data use isn't guaranteed with the plans."
Meanwhile, later on, the pricing structure is quoted as: "'The new 3G 8GB iPhone for Pay & Go will be available for £299.99 and 16GB for £359.99,' O2 said in a statement on its tariffs website, with normal calls costing 5p per minute."
Well spotted...I didn't notice the use of Euros in the headlines earlier. Must be a mistake because prices are never quoted in Euros in the UK because it's not our currency (Unfortunately). In special cases, you can pay in Euros but you can't quote prices in Euros except as a secondary, converted price (Main one has to be in Pounds Sterling)
Comments
You also make assumptions about me --- I made 2 quick typing mistakes (simlocking instead of unlocked and Sweden instead of Finland) and you jumped all over me.
You shouldn't be arguing with me about France's simlocking laws. You should be standing beside me arguing that France's simlocking laws don't really work if it only results in a 750 euro unlocked iphone. You should be standing beside me arguing that the high iphone price (both handset and plans) is the result in French's telecom policy in allowing only 3 national carriers (and all 3 are French owned). Liberalize the French telecom industry by allowing a fourth carrier that may or may not be foreign owned would be the way to go.
Sweden's telecom regulator (PTS) handed out 3G licenses by "beauty contest" --- blew up in their face. The past 2 years --- PTS did a 180 and has been auctioning spectrum space ever since.
Samab my friend, and I hope you do not mind me calling you this. Let's start over. If I jumped on you hard, please accept my apologies.
Now, I agree with you about the telecom laws. They are not in the best interest of anyone. In my honest opinion, I think it would be interesting to see what kind of one day or one week shut down we, the comsumers, could manufacture that would let the telcos, Apple, MS, et al that they are only in biz because of us. They are not doing us a favor by taking out money.
Meanwhile, later on, the pricing structure is quoted as: "'The new 3G 8GB iPhone for Pay & Go will be available for £299.99 and 16GB for £359.99,' O2 said in a statement on its tariffs website, with normal calls costing 5p per minute."
So let's get this straight:
£299.99 = ?378.99 = $598.33
£359.99 = ?454.79 = $717.99
Hardly a need to sell a phone SIM locked, if it's not subsidized, they make the money on the mark-up, sales commission, or increase in customers and volume of sales. Further, SIM locking will likely not last long.
So is it worth it? Depends if you rather deal with one-time expenses and lower monthly payments or not.
Subsidies plus sales margin are $717.99-$299.99=$418, respectively $598.22-$199=$399.33
So in the $400 range. Rumors are that AT&T pays Apple $325/phone, which means O2 earns about $75-$95/phone in sales.
It also means, if you get one of these, it takes you 3.5 years (more counting the interest) of using the phone until you recoup the savings of sticking with your old iPhone plan. Given that AT&T won't have to pay any subsidies, and given that you'd be likely be eligible for a new subsidized model before three years are over, it's also somewhat likely that AT&T would not much object to people buying such phones and using their existing iPhone calling plan. Interest counted, it takes just about three years until AT&T recovers the reported subsidy payments by means of higher monthly plan charges, and by then you could get a new, similarly subsidized phone, and the clock would start ticking from scratch.
So it's a matter if you want to decide to rather spend spare cash in a lump sum, and end up with a smaller more managable monthly budget in a less predictable future, or if you simply do math and figure you'll have predictable income, and thus simply go with what's likely overall the cheaper approach (getting a subsidized phone from AT&T).
Personally, I rather have smaller monthly payments and decide based on disposable funds if/when I spend a large amount of money for a luxury item, rather than be stuck in what's in essence a cloaked financed payment plan that obliges me to montly payments in a potentially uncertain future. To be debt free and to be able to end the contract at any time past the next year is adding to piece of mind in financially potentially turbulent times.
The article title reads: "O2 Pay & Go iPhones start at 299 euro, make data optional" and then the piece continues: "Apple's exclusive iPhone carrier in the UK announced Wednesday that its Pay & Go customers can purchase a new iPhone 3G without a monthly contract for just 299 euro, but that data use isn't guaranteed with the plans."
Meanwhile, later on, the pricing structure is quoted as: "'The new 3G 8GB iPhone for Pay & Go will be available for £299.99 and 16GB for £359.99,' O2 said in a statement on its tariffs website, with normal calls costing 5p per minute."
Well spotted...I didn't notice the use of Euros in the headlines earlier. Must be a mistake because prices are never quoted in Euros in the UK because it's not our currency (Unfortunately). In special cases, you can pay in Euros but you can't quote prices in Euros except as a secondary, converted price (Main one has to be in Pounds Sterling)