The iPhone 4 gets an Australian release date on July 30th, with free bumper cases to address criticism of the phone’s signal dropout issues.
Apple fans are marking their calendars, and the most tragic of them are getting out their sleeping bags, with the announcement that the
iPhone 4 will go on sale in Australia on Friday July 30th.
The hotly-anticipated date was revealed during a press briefing by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in which he outlined the company’s response to the iPhone 4’s widely publicised problems with signal dropout depending on how the device was held.
The major plank of that plan – to give all iPhone 4 buyers a free case, ranging from Apple’s own bumpers to cases made by third-party manufacturers and stocked by Apple – is expected to be rolled into the smartphone’s Aussie launch.
However, Apple has not yet revealed the exact mechanism by which this will be carried out – for instance, what dollar value will be placed on the free case, and will the deal be fulfilled by issuing an Apple store credit voucher or offering the case up-front at the time of purchase?
Apple has also limited the case give-away until September 30th, which would mean Australian buyers would be eligible for a bonus bumper for just the first 60 days unless Apple Australia extends the cut-off date.
And with less than two weeks until the iPhone 4’s release the local telcos will now be jostling to release their own pricing and plans.
On top of this, the two-year contracts on which the iPhone 3G (the first iPhone to be officially released in Australia) was sold starting from its launch on July 11, 2008 are now hitting their expiry date.
This will put carriers such as Optus (which took the lion’s share of customers but also faced widespread criticism over its network performance) under pressure to retain existing customers, while Telstra will likely be aiming to scoop up as many iPhone users as possible onto its Next G network.
It’s going to be a fun fortnight...