Apple is set to reach far more consumers with the launch of the 3G iPhone in 70 countries than it did with the original version a year ago, partly due to having abandoned its insistence that carriers give it a share of call revenue.

Operators such as T-Mobile now have more scope to subsidize the cost of the phone to buyers in return for more lucrative contracts.

Some carriers, including Telefonica's O2, have said iPhone users consume 30 times as much data as users of other Internet-enabled phones.

The original iPhones that went on sale a year ago cost hundreds of euros and were sold in conjunction with expensive, exclusive deals with a single carrier in each country. Six million of the handsets were sold.

T-Mobile will sell the 3G iPhone with 8 gigabytes of memory, enough to store about 2,000 songs or 8 feature-length movies, for between 1 and 169.95 euros, depending on the data plan.

The 16-gigabyte version will start at 19.95 euros with an all-inclusive data plan costing 89 euros per month, going up to 249.95 euros for a minimal 29 euros-per-month contract.

Posted at 05:09AM Jun 16, 2008 by Kevin P McAuliffe in Astound  |  Comments[0]