Canadian Apple Stores won't sell iPhone 3G thanks to Rogers
Apple, disgusted with Rogers Wireless for dumping egregious
service plans on would-be iPhone 3G buyers, has decided that its
Canadian retail stores will have no part in helping the carrier market
the new handset to customers, AppleInsider has learned.
As a result, Canadian Apple Retail stores won't be selling the new 3G
touchscreen phones come Friday, representatives for the Cupertino-based
company said during a private conference call on Monday evening.
Instead, it will be up to Rogers and its partner Fido to lock
subscribers into steep 3-year contracts that require a minimum monthly
payment of
$60 for just 150 minutes, 75 text messages, and 400MB of data.
Calls to Canadian Apple retail stores early Tuesday confirmed the move
once over. Although the majority of the of stores contacted by
AppleInsider
said they were still unsure whether they'd be selling the new iPhone,
one representative ultimately confirmed that Rogers and its partner
stores will be the only place to buy iPhone 3G come Friday. Canadian
Apple retail stores will, however, have demo units on hand the same day.
Asked whether the decision not to sell the iPhone was a result of
Rogers' poor service offerings, the representative would only say that:
"We have nothing to do with the service plans. Those are Rogers' plans."
Word of Apple's abandonment of in-store sales comes just days after the company was reported
to have sanctioned Rogers
by diverting a significant amount of Canada's iPhone 3G shipments to
Europe as initial retribution. As a result, the Canadian carrier will
likely receive only about 10 to 20 units per store, and therefore
should "exercise caution" not to promise ample stock on launch day,
people familiar with the matter have said.
Apple's knee-jerk reaction is believed to have been further stimulated
by public outrage on the part of Canadian consumers following the
release of the local pricing plans. Always concerned with its image,
the iPhone maker has watched nearly 50,000 of its loyal customers sign
an anti-Rogers petition at
ruinediphone.com,
which has in turn sparked hundreds of potentially damaging reports on
the matter by bloggers and members of the mainstream media.
For its part, Rogers in
official statements
has attempted to justify the cost of its service and data plans by
arguing that the "majority" of international iPhone carriers have
capped data. As such, a spokesperson said Rogers believes its plans to
be better than those of Orange France, for example, which include a
500MB 'reasonable use' limit versus the 2GB maximum on the top-tier
Canadian iPhone plan that fetches $115 per month.
"Unlimited plans could end up costing customers more for what they
don't use," the spokesperson said. "Our iPhone plans more than
accommodate the vast majority of customers."
