They're the same company, Foxconn & Hon Hai. 1 order for 12m units.
How will this work in terms of companies such a NexTex and Sprint that do not use SIM cards in their phones? Apple would be basically ignoring a large portion of US customers including corporate clients.
Hon Hai is Foxconn!
that's a HORRIBLE mockup, by the way. No way will Apple create something with a million teeny, tiny, unreadable buttons on it...
If it's unlocked it means it will cost $$$ (as its not subsidized by any carrier), which probably won't sell very well in the US (people like their free or
hai hai? never heard of that company...
http://thygoodies.blogspot.com/
Nothing really new from an European perspective at least, high-end phones are always available unlocked as well.
For a more direct reference, this is also what Bang & Olufsen are doing with their Serene phone...
does anybody else realize this is bs, the real ipod phone will be sold exclusivly through sprint (cdma).... why you may ask, sprint is the only company that has any experience in doing something like this with its ESPN phone, which consequently has a common relative with apple in disney, not to mention sprint has by far the best data network in the country and has put the most support into wimax, sprint is the natural carrier to support the iphone, if that doesn't convince you then this probably won't either but you can trust me I already know.
Locking phones to providers doesn't restrict Nokia, Sony Ericsson et al from worldwide distribution. Why do you say it would inhibit Apple? The handsets are subsidised by the telecoms companies (T-Mobile, Vodafone etc) in the UK too.
Thanks for all the comments all.
Yes, I know that European phones are almost always available unlocked as well as locked to carriers. I think that is one of the drivers to Apple adopting that business model; it understands that what it might miss in subsidies it can make up in a larger global market.
Regarding Sprint and Verizon, my belief is that on the first round, Apple will simply not address those carriers. World-wide, GSM phones vastly outsell CDMA phones (although the use of CDMA in China may even the stakes some), so GSM gives Apple a larger target to address with the iPhone. And when last I met with the Apple folks about phones and iSync five years ago, they seemed pretty excited about GSM phones then.
Thanks for all the great comments, and if you have any further thoughts, please contribute them!
Carl
The only problem I can see with the "Leaving the phones unlocked" is the fact that Verizon Wireless doesn't use SIM cards to activate there phones. If Apple doesn't put out a specific version for Verizon, there customers are SOL.
This actually sounds like great new. It would nice if they could not only sell it unlocked but also through phone companies. This way people who want to get it at a rebate will sign up with a carrier but those who just want to replace their phone can buy it directly from Apple. I think this is absolutely doable.
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Nice Photoshops. This would be sweet, just have to worry about draining the battery by watching to many videos!
I recently found a very interesting website:
http://alreadylinked.com/
There you can purchase ad space for your Blog etc.
Here in Thailand all of the phones come unlocked as well, and a SIM card is super-cheap. As an American, it did take me a while to get used to spending $300-400 (or more) on a phone, but I've now learned that not being tied down to one evil carrier is worth it!
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Only a few weeks left before the release date.
PureMobile will have the iPhone unlocked:
http://www.puremobile.com/Apple/...lack-GSM-Phone/
Great Site Thanks.
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