It’s the same price with a € instead of a $!!!
The iPhone costs $541 (about €361, based on PayPal’s current exchange rate) in an Apple store in New York. I know this, because I had one in my hands there only recently. New York charges a 7% sales tax on goods sold within the state. As does California. However in America it’s customary to display prices before tax.
The iPhone costs 499 euro in Ireland, after tax. Its pre tax price is €412.39. So, the first premium that us Irish are paying is on the handset, and it is €61. You can argue about historical currency rates and the like, if you wish. Suffice to say that Apple can’t increase the cost of a product in America to account for the fluctuations in currency. It’s worth pondering that on January 9th 2007, the day the iPhone was announced, exchange rates were different. $499 was worth €384, at least according to XE.
If you’re wondering why we’re comparing PayPal prices and not using money market conversion rates, it’s because you’re never going to be able to buy the dollar at that price. The exchange rates on XE for example, are essentially meaningless. The Paypal rates are something you can actually buy.
The next popular brown-trouser moment for “never-would-be” buyers is the tariffs. Lets look at O2’s closest competing cheaper tariff, the O2 Active Life 150.
| iPhone | AL 150 | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per month | €45 | €35 | €10 dearer |
| Minutes per month | 175 | 180 | 5 minutes less |
| Texts included | 100 | 120 | 20 less texts |
| Data included (MB) | 1000 | 0 | 1000MB more |
| Additional calls | 20c | 30c | 10c cheaper |
Reading off that table, basically for ten euro extra you get 5 minutes less calls, 20 less texts, but 1 gigabyte of data. It is my opinion that a ubiquitous net connection and 1 gig of data would actually mean I would use a phone less for calling/SMS.
You can argue that O2 are ripping us off regardless, of course. But the iPhone tariffs are not that different from their current ones.
People are comparing the 1 gig limit to their current broadband consumption. This is beyond bizarre. Sure, a gigabyte is pretty terrible if you intend using your iPhone as your sole net connection, but even at that, think of all the bandwidth heavy tasks you do, and work out how many of them you’ll be doing on the iPhone. File sharing, downloading movies, online gaming? I would wager that most people won’t consume a gig a month, those that do should consider getting themselves a laptop. It’s not healthy to be staring a 3” screen that much.
Here is where O2 really kicks you in the nuts. Your un-used minutes, data and texts do not carry over from month to month, just like the O2 UK terms. In the US, AT&T carry your unused minutes for up to twelve billing periods.
It’s 2 years in the U.S. so be thankful! Seriously though, yes this is annoying, we all agree. 18 month contracts have been doing the rounds for a while, and it’s frustrating. If they guaranteed you that you can abandon the contract to move to a new iPhone on O2 it’d be okay, but at present it’s a tad vague.
ZOMG! It’s a €1309 mobile phone!
I really can’t see the point in doing the usual (€499 + 18 x €45) price, and writing stuff like ZOMG! It’s a €1309 mobile phone! That same logic would lead you to believe that a Nokia 6300 costs €600. You can’t simply ignore the fact that you’re including a year and halfs worth of bills just to get shock factor.
Well, you can, but you’re not doing your credibility any favours.
This crap started in the US with people trying to expose the “true price” of the iPhone. Guess what, kids? Sensationalism = page hits!
If you think it’s a total rip off, you may well be right. The jury is still out for me, for me this is a new device. I can’t compare it to my phone, or my iPod really. It’s in a different league to all the other phones I see these days, it’s closest to maybe an iPod touch. The 16GB version costs €369, in case you were wondering.
This is an Article. It was posted on March 7, 2008.
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