iPhone for Australia

At the risk of being handset-centric, the following article on the imminent arrival of the iPhone to Australia (or at least rumours of) is interesting.

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Australia's blogging community is awash with speculation that Apple is planning to launch a multi-carrier, contract-free 3G version of the iPhone in the country in June. The source, an Australian Mac user website, claims the launch is timed to coincide with Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) and the opening of a new flagship Apple store in Sydney.
No version of the iPhone has been released yet in Australia.

The source claims that as Telstra is the only Australian operator with an EDGE network - the network the current iPhone uses - Apple has little bargaining power to negotiate an exclusive arrangement with an operator in the way it has in other countries. Instead, it is suggested Apple will launch the new 3G version of the iPhone that is able to work with all Australian 3G network operators.

This multi-carrier approach also means that Apple would have no reason to lock users into lengthy contracts. The source adds that as there are relatively few Apple and operator-branded stores in Australia, Apple will instead allow the device to be sold via resellers in the same way it sells other products such as iPods.

The source claims that Apple Australia has already informed select Australian resellers of its
plans. However, it has allegedly given each reseller a different launch date in the same week so it can spot the culprit if launch details are leaked.
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This is significant news for Australia but possibly even more significant for Apple for a number of reasons. Firstly, if the rumours are true, this will possibly be the first iPhone launch that didn't involve Apple striking a deal with mobile operators for ongoing incremental revenue sharing and also the first time this blogger is aware of where Apple has not done an exclusive launch with a mobile operator.

This will also be the first 3G iPhone launched, many pundits were amazed that Apple would launch their handset with 2.5 (Edge) only, so this will be welcome and much anticipated news. For my two-cents on why Apple launched with Edge, the author believes the two major drivers for this decision were the higher relative cost of 3G chipsets and because the big buzz factor for Apple was less the ability to access fast internet, and more the revolution in form and OS. This will change quickly though and we will see Apple moving very fast to bring 3G on in most of its regions very soon.

The iPhone is a major event in the mobile phone industry, barriers to entry for new manufacturers are high, design takes a long time to get right and brand even longer so Apple releasing something in this space is an excellent shot in the arm for an industry thats dominated by a few manufacturers.

Relating back to an earlier blog, Telstra's NextG customers will possibly miss-out, at least initially as Apple is unlikely to be offering an 850 variant for quite some time.