The new version of the Apple iPhone hits New Zealand this week on the 11th of July. The only telco company to provide iPhone plans is Vodafone. They teased the nation recently by advertising that they’d be selling the iPhone from only $199 on a two year plan.
It sounded great, and I was going to buy one. It turned out not to be great at all, and I won’t be. For that price you get the 8Gig iPhone on a two year plan, at TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS PER MONTH, considerably more expensive than the most expensive plan that will be offered in any other nation on earth, with a plan that offers significantly fewer minutes and data.
The price is almost unbelievable. It seemed impossible, but them’s the facts. Needless to say, the excitement has worn off. Here’s John Campbell grilling a rather unfortunate Vodafone public relations employee who had the very unenviable task of fronting up to the media.
Not for me, thanks.
Dizzle
That is worse than the Canadian deal. Apple is putting pressure on Rogers in Canada to come down to reality, maybe the same will happen there. Our plan here starts at $60 and goes to $120;. I don’t use my cell phone as a phone much, I am more interested in the date plan, so near the cheapest plan is good for me. Of course maybe when I have a phone I like, I will use it more.
Pernod
I find it comical they compare it to the UK. Its the same land size as NZ with 14X as many people… the fact is i pay less for my tv, my broadband, my mobile, my car, and everything else that benefits from economy of scale. The fact is NZ is an expensive place for some things.
On the otherside, food costs and quality, petrol, accommodation, dentists and doctors – NZ is much better off.
Something tells me the UK would gladly take NZ’s current petrol prices and pay more for their iPhones and Sky TV…
Glenn
Actually Pernod, the NZ pricing is considerably higher than ALL other nations that will be getting the new iPhone, and the price differences between those countries are not proportional to the size of the population of those nations.
Whether or not folk in the UK pay too much for food is hardly a reason for thinking that Vodafone’s plan pricing to exploit their monopoly position is justified.
Andy Moore
Bah, it’s not all that bad… For $979 you can get the 8GB 3G iPhone on Prepay, nothing wrong with that. Look at these phones: http://store.vodafone.co.nz/allMobiles.aspx and they don’t even compare.
My thoughts…
http://www.starstuddedsuperstep.com/2008/07/iphone-arrives-in-nz.html
Dizzle
http://www.9to5mac.com/iphone-news
Silly kiwis buying a phone and taking it apart. Go and do some booty whooping