Japanese carrier gives out free 8 GB iPhones
Softbank Mobile, the iPhone carrier in Japan, plans to introduce a new program Friday that will give some iPhones away for free with a new two-year contract. The 8GB iPhone will be free to new subscribers who sign up for a plan starting on Friday, likely to disappoint those who paid the equivalent of $235 (22,782 yen) in the recent past, according to CrunchGear. Softbank is also reducing the price of the 16GB version from $350 to $118 as part of the new “iPhone for everybody Campaign.” Softbank also cut the cost of its maximum data plan rates as part of the new announcement, from $62 a month to $45.60 a month. Voice calls and texts are free among Softbank customers, but if your friend or colleague is an NTT DoCoMo customer, charges can start to accumulate quickly at 20 cents for a 30-second call. AT&T’s most expensive iPhone voice and data plan checks in at $129 for unlimited usage.
Japan always seemed like it would be a tough market for Apple to crack. Unlike in the U.S., where data-capable touch-screen phones are a relatively new idea, Japanese mobile phone users have been playing around with advanced devices for years. In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that Japanese iPhone sales were slower than expected, and there’s no sign that anything has picked up since then. There’s no clear indication that Softbank is cutting prices in response to demand, but Apple COO Tim Cook noted during last month’s earnings conference call that the company considers the price of the iPhone “clearly elastic,” meaning that every time it has dropped the price, demand has increased. Softbank might have the same idea in mind.
Source: Cnet
Comments(12)
nice, where is mine?
too bad softbank is equiviant to only t-mobile or sprint in the US. not up to par on call quality
uh… it was free here in Europe few months after the release.
http://www.t-mobile.nl/persoonlijk/htdocs/page/productinformatie/abonnementen/iPhone.aspx
only in USA you pay that much with a 2 year plan.
Its always been free on yearly contracts in the UK.
Only available on O2.
why would I want that phone? so I can fit in with all the other tech ignorants?
no company gives away anything FREE. i hate it when they pretend to. its all calculated and you pay for it one way or another. the trick is to find out how much you really pay and if its what you really need. on the other hand, everybody knows iphones arent meant to be used, they are meant to be shown…
you can have the iphone for 1€ since 3 months in austria…
Why would japanese people want an iphone? They have phones which are like 5 years ahead of the technology the iphone uses.
microsoft did something similar with the xbox.
they sold the unit at a loss for A LONG TIME. i believe the strategy was simply to increase the install base at all costs in order the bolster and insure FUTURE SALES.
very, very smart business move.
@4
I was just about to say the same thing. It has been free in Britain with contract since it was released, perhaps they know we aren't as stupid as to pay £180 for a phone, then pay £31 a month to keep using it.
It's only 1 Euro here in Austra with a 2-year contract. They're really throwing them after you.
@8: not really, they just like to watch tv on their phones. Their best thing is the Panasonic's P905i, which has a 3-inch tv, motion sensors, 3G, GPS, and a 5.1 megapixel camera. The iPhone capacitive screen is still best of its class.