Israeli iPhone launch hampered by delays
updated 04:00 pm EDT, Thu August 27, 2009
Israeli iPhone delays
The launch of the Israeli iPhone continues to be beset by problems, a regional website notes. Although Apple has signed deals with carriers Orange, Cellcom and Pelephone, iSpot notes that the device is not yet available in the country. The release date has in fact been delayed twice, and is now only scheduled for October. Carriers are each being required to sell 100,000 iPhones per year, for a duration of three years.
A local financial publication meanwhile reports that carriers are putting pressure on Apple, asking the company to amend its repair policies. As a result of contracts, it is currently expected that the carriers will have to send iPhones to Ireland for repairs; this may cause complications not only in terms of shipping expenses, but import taxes, and the time it takes for a repaired unit to return. The carriers are instead asking for local repair labs, which will not impose as much of drain on profits.
