“Mobile operator Orange will begin selling an unlocked an iPhone in France next month. This is due to a French law that prohibits exclusively bundling a handset with a wireless carrier,” BetaNews reports.
“Like in other European countries, the locked iPhone will cost 399 euros. The unlocked iPhone will cost more, Orange said, but will not specify how much until November,” BetaNews reports.
Full article here.
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$399 euro’s. damn!!! that is $566 dollars. While still less than the $599 the orginial iPhone went for (8 gig) that is still a lot more.
apple could sell it for $299 euro’s and still make an extra $25 per unit to cover the extra shipping and handling charges
Ok everyone who’s dying for an unlocked iPhone – time to goto France!
Its hardly Apple’s fault that the US economy is struggling and the dollar is so weak against the Euro.
“$399 euro’s. damn!!! that is $566 dollars. While still less than the $599 the orginial iPhone went for (8 gig) that is still a lot more.
apple could sell it for $299 euro’s and still make an extra $25 per unit to cover the extra shipping and handling charges”
@peragrin: That’s tax included. The American price is without tax. I know it’s still more than over there, but you get the real price.
Gonna get an unlocked one when I visit France in January!!
let the bashing commence!
Uhm, the US economy isn’t struggling. What’s the growth rate again? How many new jobs are being added every year? Yes, there are clouds on the horizon and some problems, but please. “Struggling”? I think I know your political orientation already.
Europeans (at least northern Europeans) earn more per capita than Americans, and the listed price includes the VAT, so the price isn’t as bad as it looks.
Dear Busting – hmm I think your economic analysis is simplistic- this is not the time and place for such discussion – regards
@BTSOI,
everyone already knows who your heroes are. Give it a rest.
“Uhm, the US economy isn’t struggling.”
dude your deluded! Get out of that bubble and open your eyes!!!
@BustingTheSkullsOfIdiots
He may be talking about your dollar, the US dollar is in the toilet, compared to the euro, canada and the aussie dollar.
In Europe taxes are far hiugher than in USA. Plus the laws will forbidd the Appl-AT&T;typed contracts. Therefore, Orange and Apple had only this one possible strategy: sell expensive with the choosen operator and sel the iPhone at a prhibitve and discouraging prize has free unloked phone.
Make no doubt to me that people will not even think about buying an iPhone without Orange.
Sillies. The US economy is far more robust than all that. The US economy is fine – all the more so because out manufacturing output is so cheap now.
What you’re looking at is the 20% sales tax (plus import duties) – the order of the day in that worker’s paradise we know as France. And probably a markup penalty because Apple gets no goodies from Orange to boost their earnings on unlocked phones.
So would it be correct to say that anyone I know visiting France in the near future could get me one these babies and I could use it in Ireland on any network? Even if I am a pay as you go customer??? Advice please, cheers!
Yep, wandering joe is correct, that price includes 19.6% VAT (sales tax) in France whereas US prices are quoted with sales tax.
So like-for-like price (sans tax) is 333 Euros, which at 1.42:1 equates to aprox $473
The difference is probably due to FX hedging, the US dollar is extremely weak atm, especially against the Euro. Plus a bit of extra needless margin.
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US prices WITHOUT sales tax. Damn MacBook Pro keyboard.
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Plus Import Duty which is 5%-17% depending on product, can’t be bothered to look it up.
But, bottom line is price difference is tax. They’ve got to pay for all those state employees somehow.
@peragrin
What about VAT and other taxes? We’re talking about Europe. Even the air you breathe is taxed. Especially in France, Germany and Italy.
I paid €499 for a Nokia N73. That’s usual in Italy. For us, an iPhone at 399 is cheaper than many other “traditional” phones…
MW: subject, as everything here is subject to taxes… :(((
Does anybody know which features work and which don’t on an unlocked phone? I love my iPhone, but AT&T;sucks big time. In down Phoenix I drop at least 5 calls a day with AT&T;. I know several people who have returned their iPhone and gone back to their old carriers. But I love visual voice mail. Does it work on T-Mobile?
– Not only Frenchs will have an option for unlocked iPhone in the future, but many others Europeans should have that option, because of sames laws in other countries, like Belgium, Finland, etc.
– If Apple/Orange put too much hight the price (999€..?) for the unlocked iPhones, I think french courts there will prohibite that range of price because it will be denounced as an indirect prohibition of sale of the unlocked iPhone option. Consumers there must have a real choice between carriers’s SIM card… It’s some kind of antitrust law, making a cellphones real competitive market.
Don’t forget that cellular market in Western Europe is more mature there (cellphone per capita, GMS,
SMS, 3G, etc), than in North America.
The iPhone including VAT at €399 (as it is sure to be throughout the whole of the Eurozone, like iTunes) means Apple will be making more money from it in some countries than others as the VAT ranges from 15% in Luxembourg to 22% in Finland (excluding non-eurozone countries).This works out at €20 more for Apple for each iPhone in Luxembourg than in Finland. That can really add up.
MDN word = half (glass half empty or half full)
US prices WITHOUT sales tax. Damn MacBook Pro keyboard.
Plus Import Duty which is 5%-17% depending on product, can’t be bothered to look it up.
But, bottom line is price difference is tax. They’ve got to pay for all those state employees somehow.
Really?
Is there a similar price difference in Macbooks or MacBook Pros?
The US and the world needs the weaker dollar to counter the trade deficit.
It will stop the US slowing, but will give problems to Europe and others.
In Britain the Labour government has added 670,000 state employees to the payroll. Big problem.
Back on topic: is there any way Apple could prevent this being used outside France, eg. by limiting it to French-language updates (might still be useful in Canada!) or requiring a French iTunes account?
One more reason for being proud to be European
Food, garlic, women, skiing, style, TGV, Airbus, Citroen DS… and now unlocked iPhone.
That’s it, I’m moving to France.