The iPhone 4 comes to Portugal at a 'louco' price

The good news: Portugal is getting the iPhone 4 next week. On August 27, mobile provider Optimus will start selling the iPhone 4 (here's a Google-translated link for the Portuguese-impaired). The bad news: the price is going up by 70 euros, meaning Portuguese customers will pay more for the iPhone 4 than just about anybody else.

I thought we had it bad in New Zealand, where we pay NZ$1299 (about US$918) for an unsubsidized 32 GB iPhone 4. But at 769.90 euros, a 32 GB iPhone 4 costs nearly NZ$100 (US$71) more in Portugal than in New Zealand, where mobile handset prices are usually among the highest in the world. The 16 GB iPhone 4, at 679.90 euros, is an even worse deal: over NZ$130 more (US$92) than the New Zealand price.

I've never been thrilled with handset prices in New Zealand, but we are kind of in the middle of nowhere, so it's almost excusable. It makes much less sense for the Portuguese to have to pay such a high premium for the iPhone 4. Optimus hasn't offered any reasons for raising the price by 70 euros, and I have to wonder how happy Apple is with the decision -- rumor has it that Vodafone's bungled launch of the iPhone 4 was precipitated by pricing disputes between the two companies, so it'll be interesting to see if something similar plays out in Portugal.
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