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Unlocked iPhone Sold in Germany for $1,500
By Robert | January 9, 2008
Germany is the first company to offer it 100 percent legally while we are still struggling in the US. We are talking about the possibility of purchasing a factory-unlocked iPhone in the country for the price of $1,500. This comes as we see customers from US fighting with many firmware updates to utilize on their mobile phones on various non AT&T networks.
Deutsche Telekom signed a special deal with Apple in September that saw them being able to sell the mobile phone in Germany. On the other hand they were faced with an attack by Vodafone Inc. because the laws in Germany are very similar to those in France and they do not allow mobile phones to be tied to only one carrier or plan. This means that selling only contracted iPhones is against the law unless the company is also selling unlocked versions.
We saw last month that a French court stated that in order to avoid problems France Telecom’s Orange subsidiary needed to sell the iPhone unlocked, but this only after 6 months from the first release. So they can profit from monopole for half a year. On the other hand, in Germany the law is different because this 6 months period does not exist. We thus see Deutsche Telekom being forced to offer an unlocked iPhone version immediately but it also does mean that they can put a really higher price tag on the device. The unlocked units will not show some features and we are hit with a huge price tag combined with reduced functionality and a possible 3G model in 2008. Apple will surely have some gains from this and we might be faced with just a way to bring in more money. It will be interesting to see how many individuals will purchase the iPhone for $1,500, when it is actually cheaper to purchase it from the US and unlock it in the country, although it might be against the law, we are not sure of that.
Topics: Phones |
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