macnn
07/10/2008, 4:35pm, EDT
Thursday, July 10th
Italian iPhone suffering lack of interest?
Italian interest in the iPhone 3G may be unusually low, early reports suggest. Although some 29 Telecom Italia stores are expected to begin selling the 3G within hours, at midnight local time on July 10th, a key TIM store in downtown Milan is said to have no lineups to speak of. Similarly, two Roman stores, including one on Via del Corso, are also said to be missing any lines. This contrasts with countries like the US, Japan and New Zealand, where long queues began forming days in advance.
Reasons for low interest are unclear, but may be connected to price. The minimum cost for an 8GB iPhone and a two-year TIM contract is approximately €1,389, or $2,187; by contrast, a new phone from AT&T should costly about $1,879 under the same conditions. The situation is in fact exacerbated under TIM rival Vodafone, which is selling its iPhones for a minimum of €1,615 ($2,543).
Filed under: iPhone
Other story tags: iPhone 3G, Italy, Telecom Italia
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Price listed not correct
Please check the math, the Iphone pricing cannot be right.
But if it is...
.. it explains why Italians are lining up! I think the prices here are the total cost for two year?s contract, included the phone. Anyhow, it is not exactly money the average Italian can just throw out of their pockets, I guess.
iPhone Canada
Same in canada even thought Rogers has some special events planed I went by 2 stores today an no line up and the staff completely ignored my interest in the iPhone display.
What???
No line? That must mean its a bust! Either that or it shows Italians have better things to do than stand in line for hours on end.
And if you've ever flown southwest before, you know that what really drives line standing is that first person who gets in line. Put one person in line, then everyone else will start flocking toward it, to make sure they aren't at the end. So maybe Apple should be hiring people to stand in line to get them going...
and
Italian iPhone suffering lack of interest?
You know this really sounds like the Italian iPhone has no interest in anything, right?
Wow.
Amazing journalism there. It's idiotic on so many levels, I don't know where to start.
1. Cultural differences.
2. Lines are a reliable way of gauging general interest?
3. Media/marketing differences between nations
Aye yi yi.
Better things to do
The Italians have better things to do.
Better things to do
The Italians have better things to do.
PookJP
You forgot that MacNN is listing the cost of the phone over the length of the contract, instead of providing the initial cost of the iPhone at acquisition.
This constant habit of claiming an iPhone 'costs' $2,000' or thereabouts, by including the cost of the contract, is dumb, to say the least -- as anyone with an existing mobile phone already pays the same fees. This is only a factor for brand new people that have never had a phone - while they certainly exist, they are not the bar by which pricing should be gauged.
You know why?
first: we have better things to do than queue for a phone
second: why do a queue for nothing? they have not a phone to sell, and (vodafone for sure) some subscription are unavailable today.
third: 1GB for a month? they are kidding?
another thing, this is not a money issue (not for the price of the iPhone anyway), simply we hate to have to stick with a plan in order to have a phone, we like to be free. the iPhone is locked? well, I think the number of cracked iPhone will outnumber the regulars.