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Sim-free iPhone 3GS arrives on Play.com
Jul 1st 2009 at 15:46 by Ben Parfitt
Gadget lovers looking to legally get their hands on an Apple iPhone 3GS but not wanting to commit themselves to O2 have been given a lifeline by online retail giant Play.com – though if you thought Apple’s prices were steep, you haven’t seen anything yet.
The retailer is currently offering the black or white 32GB models for an eye-watering £899.99. That’s over £360 more than getting the same machine on a Pay As You Go basis from O2 or the Carphone Warehouse.
The 16GB SKU is priced at £799.99.
TechRadar reports that whilst firms are free to lock handsets in the UK, they are required by law to unlock them on request.
Some EU countries such as France, however, require that all phone be sold unlocked and SIM free. This is likely where Play’s stock is coming from.
2PeteShakur
Jul 1st 2009 | 16:28
Wow, such extortionate pricing! I'd wait for Christmas, watch the prices flutter like crazy then! lol
consumer
Jul 1st 2009 | 17:22
900 pounds for iphone? They got insane.
Peter Dwyer
Jul 1st 2009 | 17:47
Hang on! Does this mean that if you buy an iPhone from O2, even on pay as you go. They are required to unlock it if you ask them to?
So why the heck haven't there been a glut of unlocked iPhones as soon as they were released?
John W
Jul 1st 2009 | 18:25
Um, no. That's how much iPhones cost. O2 subsidise the other £360 when you buy one with their chip.
iPhone Admirer
Jul 1st 2009 | 21:38
Um, no. That's not how much iPhones cost. Production cost is about 176 US dollars per phone in Taiwan. Everything else is profit - to be set, shared and banked by all "involved parties" as much as they think their respective markets will bear. Simple everyday business model really. If people could not genuinely afford any of these prices, there would not be such a "commercially successful" demand for the phones. Even ordinary punters are in on the action as well: pre-ordered unlocked iphones are obviously being offered on eBay at over 1000 US dollars each. Go figure.
mits
Jul 2nd 2009 | 07:57
thats a crazy price i rather stick to iphone 3g as its doing the job required.
Joseph Blake
Jul 5th 2009 | 02:22
Be careful when buying from Play.com - if you break your phone they have no warranty support (you would literally have to take it back to Italy).
PhoneDevil. com are £50 cheaper than Play and take care of things for you if your phone needs to be repaired under warranty.
Avi
Aug 6th 2009 | 11:47
It's not unreasnable..
it's Ridiculous!!!
no one should even think of buying it from here!
you've got to be kidding!!!
Loen
Aug 17th 2009 | 19:32
in Belgium the sim-unlocked iphone is available from 475€, the 3GS is around 700€. Still ridiculously expensive, but quite a lot less than in Britain. So: cross-channel shopping might save you some 100's...
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