iPhone Rumour Craziness – What’s Going On?
First off, earlier this week the SMH reported that the exclusive agreements with carriers that Apple has negotiated so successfully in the US, France, Germany and the UK could well be illegal in Australia.
The crux is the argument is that unless the carriers subsidise the handset, the agreement could breach the Trade Practices Act. Online outlets are arguing that it could be the end of Apple’s current distribution strategy.
And it could be, but don’t count on it. Apple aren’t stupid – they would be well versed in the legal implications of their strategy before releasing the product here. That could be one of the main reasons we haven’t seen it here yet – they’re busy trying to negotiate a deal with a number of carriers that doesn’t effect their income stream. In any case, don’t think for a second that this is news to Apple.
Not that it matters, if reports from Engadget are correct. Apparently Apple’s COO Tim Cook, speaking at a Goldman Sachs investor’s conference, dropped the following nugget:
“Apple is not married to the single, exclusive-carrier model.”
So does this mean we’ll see iPhones on multiple carriers here in Australia? I’m guessing not, at least not straight away. Keep in mind that the only thing we know for certain (and it’s not really that certain) is that Australia will get the iPhone this year. That could be December for all we know. Plenty of things could change before any announcements are made.
Hopefully though, we’ll be hearing the rumblings of an announcement in the middle of the year, to coincide with the latest rumoured release of a 3G iPhone. Engadget has stated that UBS analysts are saying that Infineon will be making the chips for this new 3G model, which would make sense considering they make the current iPhone’s internal chips.
Is it likely? Who knows. This is Apple. Analysts get it wrong much more frequently than they get it right, but we’ve got our fingers crossed for a global Australian June release of a 3G iPhone with 32GB on board. We’ve waited this long – it’s only fair that they spoil us, right?
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Comments
3G iPhone with 32GB onboard…? I’d guess this might be released worldwide to coincide with the Aussie release. I’d jump onboard, that’s for sure.
Illegal or otherwise, we just won’t see the current iPhone out here.
The iPhone is almost certainly getting revised into a fully 3G model. In its current “EDGE” format, what Australian network can even offer reasonable connectivity nationwide?
Compare that to the networks that have some sort of 3G network! I would think the best fit would be a NextG exclusivity contract (it’s exclusive simply because of Telstra’s monopoly that way and can’t possibly be against the law for Apple, surely), but with Telstra having fiddled with the HSDPA freq. I don’t know if a NextG phone is economically feasible.
Add to that the fact that Apple Australia are horrifically bad at translating the US hype into consumer dollars. Look at TV Shows/Movies on iTunes and the AppleTV.
We can only hope the Sydney Apple Store will force them to try harder once they realise there’s actually been a market for Apple gear all these years and they’ve been driving it away through terrible business strategy.
…/rant.
Apparently the ‘third-line forcing’ issue is not so hard to solve; Apple could sell iPhones to their carrier partner and become resellers of the *carrier’s* iPhone and service bundle.
I’ve heard rumblings that there’s currently talks going on with apple from both Hutchison (3) and SingTel (Optus)
Don’t know if that means much. But we sure as hell won’t be getting the GSM version. For one, Telstra would never carry it. They run screaming from GSM now days. It seems logical for 3 to have it, as does Singtel. I don’t believe Vodafone have it in any other country, so.. meh. Telstra won’t be allowed to have it on NextG because apple are so pedantic about no operator modifications.
Also, illegality? That’s nothing to do with Telstra in my opinion.
Looking forward to see what iteration of the model hits australia..
Happy to be a late adopter :-)