O2 Ireland defends high iPhone costs
As we reported last week, O2 is set to release the iPhone in Ireland at either €399 (8GB model) or €499 (16GB). That's approximately $605US or $757US, respectively.
Consider that their cheapest contract runs for 18 months (which figures out to a minimun of €1,209) with 1GB of data per month, no visual voicemail and 175 call minutes, and some customers are unhappy. However, O2 Ireland's CEO Danuta Gray has an answer.
"...I have music on it, videos on it, DVDs, photo albums, camera. To me it's just an amazing device and I think the type of price here compared with this type of functionality is where the value should be judged."
She goes on to predict that Apple fans will be lined up (or "queuing" as they say over there) when the phones become available, and we agree. After all, some of us (yours truly included) paid the Early Adopter Fee for our American iPhones.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
darkpaw said 3:59PM on 3-02-2008
But, the functionality is the same wherever you are, so why should Ireland pay vastly more the same device? Sounds like O2's marketing blurb on overdrive.
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Francesco Caporusso said 4:04PM on 3-02-2008
While the iPhone is awesome those prices are ridiculous for what you get. No visual voicemail? 1GB of data? 175 minutes? It makes AT&T look awesome. That's saying something.
Also, I think the "Early Adopter Fee" comment is ridiculous. Let it go, already. You bought a product for an agreed-upon price; there was no "fee". STOP WHINING!
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jkuehn said 4:04PM on 3-02-2008
I'm not going to complain about the price of Apple products [in the US] anymore. We get some pretty good values here in comparison to the folks on the other side of the pond.
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Brendan Sheehan said 4:33PM on 3-02-2008
Indeed you do, indeed you do.
I work with an American guy online and we both recently bought new 24" iMacs [I'm in Ireland], however he saved over $1,000 me on what I paid on the exact same spec.
harrywolf said 4:07PM on 3-02-2008
Ireland is a VERY expensive place - doesnt surprise me that the iPhone will cost that much.
Its not going to sell in the millions - there are only 4 million people there!
Its mildly irritating that Apple hasn't brought the iPhone to Canada yet - we have over 33 million people - a market 8 times bigger than Ireland.
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Patrick O'Doherty said 4:26PM on 3-02-2008
Ireland is very expensive in regards to just about everything, and apple has an annoying tendency to switch a dollar symbol for a euro one, which is completely ridiculous, with the dollar as weak as it is.
I asked in an o2 shop yesterday whether the 1gb cap would be lifted and the response that I got was that it would be sooner than later, the employee who I talked to said that even he himself thought it was crazy charging that much.
but that said, Irish consumers always pay top dollar for things, we may complain but its not going to dent iphone sales here. Thats just the way it is
Paddy said 10:22PM on 3-02-2008
But I bet that the revenue per unit of population is >> in Ireland than in Canada. P.S I'm from ireland, and the irish are used to price gouging. O2 are just setting the price to what the market will bear, that's the way it is. The paddies have too much cash in pocket right now to worry about price, plus the "I can afford" it factor is really big in Ireland now. O2 just conducting business the Irish way, that's all.
tomb said 4:25PM on 3-02-2008
Maybe it's time for someone to check if an american bought iPhone works with an European iPhone carrier. Without the hacking and stuff
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Brendan Sheehan said 4:28PM on 3-02-2008
Anyone who says stop whining is a fool, pure and simple. Pure and simple!
I'm from Ireland and I already have a jailbroken iPhone. Suck it 02!
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Jimmy said 4:45PM on 3-02-2008
Too right Brendan, got my iPhone shipped over from the UK last week, unlocked and jailbroke it myself in less than 5 mins. That O2 contract is a joke, using my Meteor PAYG for the moment, but it'll be Meteor contract all the way when I finish my Masters this summer, much better value. Rip Off Republic in all its glory.
....AND NO VISUAL VOICEMAIL...WTF?!
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Denis said 5:24PM on 3-02-2008
Just how stupid do they think we are?? I have a US iPhone (€280) and am running it on Vodafone's Irish network. I had considered moving to O2 but this is the worst iPhone service anywhere in the world right now.
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Blaktornado said 4:59PM on 3-02-2008
There will most likely only be a few, average queues. If the UK is anything to go by then people won't really be all that interested... Not because it's not an amazing device (I've seen people be amazed by iPhones over here - my math teacher has one and people said "wow" when he showed them it) but because it's been in magazines and on the internet since June and it's just not as new or exciting.
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Joid said 5:40PM on 3-02-2008
I think this "release" will be a turning point and the sale of the iPhone in Ireland will be an extreme low one.
No one will walk in to an 02 store and buy one by "accident" for this price.
Anyone who wants to buy an iPhone will find it's information online. They will see that he/she can buy one for much less. That after each update the unlock will be available within days. And that the unlock methods are getting easier each time.
Apple & Telco's need to think of something else, because the approach is on a dead end.
And instead of making it more interesting, they are raising the prices. Unbelievable.
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Raul said 5:53PM on 3-02-2008
Sure there must be some legal framework that prevents this type of blatant profiteering and if there isn't then there should be, where are the consumer rights organizations when you need them? Can't someone sue Apple and O2 for this huge price discrepancy for the exact same product. C'mon how can the Irish take this lying down, its a joke.
Ofcom has been pretty proactive in UK, maybe you need some similar org in Ireland.
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Kenji F said 5:55PM on 3-02-2008
Ireland, meet Telefónica.
If Ireland shows what Telefónica is planning to do everywhere else, I imagine that the iPhone is not going to sell at all in Spain and Latin America (They have the biggest change to bring it here). They just want to sell BlackBerries.
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Rudy said 6:05PM on 3-02-2008
The solution is pretty simple. Stay away from it. If enough consumers say: I like the device, but this is ridiculous, so I WON'T buy it, and AS important: I won't buy an iPhone anywhere, not a jailbreaked one, not one to jailbreak - so Apple feels it as well - then maybe, just maybe, those people who decide and get their iPhones end fees for free, will wake up. You, the consumer , have got the power. But you just whine, and after that, spend your money, knowing better.
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Marco Heine said 6:07PM on 3-02-2008
Though I know Ireland is an expensive country in many regards (talk about car insurance), as I lived there for about six years, I wonder why no one actually noticed, that this is exactly the same price you'll pay over here in Germany as well. And if you consider, that though cost of living is much higher in Ireland, the avarage income is also a lot higher (trust me on this... I was still employed with an irish company when I moved back to Germany and though they paid me 4000 quid more a year, I had about 600 quid less a month, due to social security you pay over here).
Still, when I see things like for example with Nintendo, where they announce the european version for about 90 Euro and the US version for about 70 Dollars, I wonder why this is. I think the manufactures are just plain greedy and we are stupid enough to pay those prices (my self included).
Regards, Marco...
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Marco Heine said 6:09PM on 3-02-2008
About the Nintendo thing: I forgot to mention, I ment the Wii Fit =)
PeterA said 6:40PM on 3-02-2008
Hmmm...we're still waiting in Australia and I bet the price here will be even higher. I'm predicting USD800 for the phone and a monthly tariff of USD100 with no sensible data. If O2 got away without visual voicemail, so will an Australian carrier.
My advice - find a friend who is jetting over to the US and get one there. Jailbreaking/unlocking is cheap as chips now and if you're not getting the big features on the official network, why bother getting an official phone? Apple clearly doesn't mind that much, so send your bucks to Apple and not O2.
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basscadet said 6:43PM on 3-02-2008
did no one in O2 ireland see how much UK launch flopped? Does no one there know of people buying stuff online? Exactly how many people living in the basement that need an iphone does ireland have according to O2?
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