iPhones to be sold at Apple's HK store online
Firm will offer handset on website
No iPhone 3G for you today? No problem.
Apple, maker of the iPod, intends to make the iPhone 3G handset available at its online store in Hong Kong, a United States-based Apple spokesman said, though he could not say when that would happen.
The company would try to keep prices close to those the company has been touting since it introduced the device last month - US$199 for the 8-gigabyte-capacity model and US$299 for the 16GB version.
Apple's much-publicised, heavily anticipated 3G smartphone goes on sale in 22 markets worldwide today, but only around 1,500 people in Hong Kong will get a handset today.
Expected to walk away with the new iPhone 3G are 500 people whose names were chosen at random this week by Apple partner Hutchison Telecom, and more than 1,000 of the operator's premium subscribers.
Hutchison Telecom's policy is not to lock the handsets that it sells via its network of '3' shops.
Internet distribution via the local online Apple store would suit consumers who do not want to change service providers.
'This will give local consumers more choice of which network and which data plans best suits their needs,' said Stephen Chau Kam-kun, chief technology officer at 3G network operator SmarTone- Vodafone. Mr Chau said SmarTone-Vodafone was still in talks with Apple about a partnership with the company in Hong Kong. 'I hope we can move forward and get to an acceptable arrangement,' he said.
Hutchison Telecom requires iPhone customers to sign a two-year contract. Its cheapest plan is for an 8GB iPhone 3G model and costs HK$2,938, plus a monthly fee of HK$188 for 500 minutes of basic airtime and 500 megabytes of data. It also requires an upfront payment of HK$1,742, which subscribers get back over the course of their contract.
The advantages that Hutchison Telecom says users will get for signing up with it include a one-year warranty service from Apple, quality-assured live video content and preset e-mail accounts.
Anyone who is not picking up an iPhone 3G today is asked to stay clear of Hutchison's shops.
More than 60,000 people pre- registered with Hutchison Telecom for iPhone 3G handsets. The company intended to reach out to all pre-registered customers in the coming weeks, a spokeswoman said. A few thousand have been contacted already. Those customers will begin picking up their phones tomorrow.
Catch 22
Apple is rolling out the iPhone 3G in 22 countries today, starting in New Zealand
The number of countries expected to have the iPhone 3G by year's end: 70
