One week to go and Globe Telecoms will be making available the iPhone 3G S to its postpaid and prepaid subscribers. Am making special mention of Globe because the last time I asked at the cellphone tiangge in Robinsons Manila, they gave no indication that they’ll have it handy before Globe’s July 31 release to the public.
Am certainly very interested in getting the new iPhone and studying my options at the moment. That is, do I subscribe to a Globe plan or just buy an unlocked unit? I’ve remained a prepaid subscriber all these years because I hate paying monthly bills and it enables us (rather, the husband) to budget cellphone bills effectively. The only downside I see in this is that I change my phone number every time I lose my cellphone which is OFTEN, hehehe.
Looking at the Globe site, it was kinda weird to see that the iPhone 8GB and 16GB will be a lot more expensive than the iPhone 3GS (both 16 and 32 GB) when the latter is made available. For example, cash out for the iPhone 16GB at Plan 2199 is at P15,350 while for the iPhone 3G S (32GB!), it’s only P13,150. At Plans 399 to 2199, cash out for the old iPhone is from 20-40 percent higher than the 3G S.
We don’t know the reason for this. Perhaps this is all part of Globe’s marketing plan to push sales of the 3G S. It should all be good since Globe’s pricing will also dictate that of the gray market. Which means the unlocked, jailbroken new iPhone will be priced competitively, if not more affordably.
Anyway, my MB editor has pointed me to the direction of the Apple Store in Hong Kong for the latest iPhones. The 18GB 3G S is at HK$ 5388, or P33243.996 using a conversion rate of P6.17. That isn’t so bad as well, and what’s good is that the Apple Store offers free shipping within 24 hours!
I think I’ve figured it out, Dear – 3G iPhones entered the market at a higher initial price than 3GS. Initial cost of technology from Apple is always high, but the 3G and 3GS benefit from the lessons learned on the first model, the iPhone.
Here’s an example – my first iPhone, Ol’ Reliable, cost me $399, this is AFTER the infamous price drop, originally cost $599.
The iPhone 3G? $199. How? Easy – the 3G service plans are more expensive, overall. Apple asked AT&T to subsidize more of the handset cost, and AT&T absorbs this by increasing rates. Can’t really blame them, iPhone users are shown to use much more data than other smartphone owners.
The iPhone 3GS carries the same price, Stateside – $199.
At this point, I would say that Globe has different subsidizing schemes for the 3GS, than for the 3G. Not differing data plans, but differing compensation agreements, as the 3G and 3GS use the same 3G data network.
YMMV.
FYI — Apple HK does not ship items outside HK neither Singapore.
It think it’s cheaper because people wanted an iPhone before, but they couldn’t get one because it was priced steeply. Realizing the desire, it’s just logical to lower prices now. It has nothing to do with the units at all.
Hey guys i heard about the pricing issue as well. But I think what Globe is saying about “they made it cheaper” is because the going rate (for the iphone 3GS alone) is still relatively high in south east asia…I mean if you think about it, what makes the iphones expensive here is the tax and shipping costs…same with IBM laptops…So come to think of it, i think getting the iphone from Globe would be a good deal, if you don’t mind the closed line. But hell, i wouldn’t lend my iphone to anyone anyway 😀