iPhone 3G

Reports are coming in from all over the place that At&t have confirmed that the iPhone 3G will not be available online, and activation will have to happen in-store:

Also, no in-home activation for iPhone 3G—it does require a two-year contract, and it will have to be activated in store (at AT&T or Apple Store), which takes 10-12 minutes, meaning that first day line is going to SUCK. And you will have to camp out, since there won’t be any online ordering at launch.

This is interesting, as the repercussions of a system like this means that in Australia, the only way to get an iPhone will be by signing a contract with Vodafone or Optus. These contracts are bound to be expensive, very expensive. Personally, I don’t want to break my contract with 3, which has 18 months left on it and suits my price point for a phone plan very nicely.

The $199 and $299 price points are VERY attractive, and obviously a market-share grab. They’ll sell 20 million iPhones in the next 12 months, no doubt, as $200 for a phone EVERYONE will want is a little hard to refute.

However, another interesting thing being reported is that Apple and At&t no longer have their revenue sharing agreement in place:

The new agreement between Apple and AT&T eliminates the revenue-sharing model under which AT&T shared a portion of monthly service revenue with Apple. Under the revised agreement, which is consistent with traditional equipment manufacturer-carrier arrangements, there is no revenue sharing and both iPhone 3G models will be offered at attractive prices to broaden the market potential and accelerate subscriber volumes.

The whole thing seems a little fishy to me. It doesn’t feel quite “Apple” to have to sit in the store and activate your iPhone before you get to take it home. It was a groundbreaking move the first time around, and it feels a little strange that it’s not there now.

I get the feeling that Apple may release an unlocked, 16GB iPhone, for about double the price [$499ish] that can be used on any carrier. This gives customers a better option - if you have a great plan you are on now, just go to an Apple store and pick up an iPhone, but it will cost more. If you need a new plan, go to one of Apple’s approved carriers, and sign up - we’ll give you a discount on the phone to boot.