After reading that we will be getting the iPhone on 20 July and then following Steve Jobs' keynote at the WWDC last night on what's new in the iPhone 3G I rushed to find out more. I want one dammit!
I got my dad to phone around and eventually he got hold of someone at Vodacom with some answers. He said that they were only offering the iPhone on their top-end contract of R800 per month, still with a pay-in. That comes to a total of R19,200 plus pay-in!! The person said that this contract was only for phones over R7,000.
Guess who's importing his iPhone 3G?
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Thoughts on Rust
4 years ago
have a look at my blog for how to import it at the retail price.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, thanks for the comment!
ReplyDeleteUpdate: Apparently MTN will also be getting the iPhone, perhaps towards the end of this year.
hmm, seems odd, apple generally keeps firm control over the whole supply chain.
ReplyDeleteActually R7000 makes sense in terms of price - remember iPhone v1 used to retail for about 999 Euros in France (where it had to be sold unlocked by law).
ReplyDeleteAlso, there are a number of phones that cost near R7000 - so nothing new on that front either.
Apple were very sneaky in saying they were slashing the price down to $199 max world-wide. It seems that they were referring to the pay-in cost, i.e. over the monthly charge of the contract.
ReplyDeleteVodaphone Italy have announced they will be selling the iPhone on prepaid for €499 and €569, which is around R7,000.
So yes it does make sense, but it was a little surprising given Apple's initial "claims".
hi ismail, please leave your blog link, cant seem to pick it up. Marco a friend of mine is going to NY now. if by my 3g iphone from there can we use them here now or do we still have to unblock them?
ReplyDeleteYou cant buy an iPohne in the USA without a: Credit Card, Social Security and a 24 month Contract.
ReplyDeleteMy brother is returning from NY and they refusede to sell him 1.
Anyways good luck its always worth a try.
actually, u can buy an iphone without a social or cc...
ReplyDeletehowever you cant buy it without a 24 month contract, not available on prepaid either..
the 8 gb is 199 plus tax = 234
the 16 gb is 299 plus tax= 334
and then the monthly charge is anything from about $85 to 120 a month...
and the iphone is locked for ATT network noly in USA! it will be available in South Africa end this month /OCT!
only on vodacom as far as i know..
iphone 3g is not yet unlocked but iphone is unlockable for about $30 in states
Im immigrating to SA in Feb 09, bringing my unlocked iphone 3g, we will see how it works on MTN. Overall cost for the phone was $199 plus $175 for getting out of the contract..... $375 US a much cheaper route than 7,000 rand+
ReplyDeleteI'm in uk and only paid £87.11 for my 3gs and a 2 year contract with unlimited data at £34.26 per month. And I've jailbroken it too and it's now so much more of a machine. Well worth it.
ReplyDeleteHello Everybody!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Gautam Sapra and I'm from New York USA. I read a lot that prices in South Africa is too much on Apple products, but as I live over here, I can give it on cheap prices.
The iphone 4g 32gb Unlocked is currently available at $849 USD