Corporate Hero? Maybe so. But in the Philippines, it could be a Corporate Zero.
There’s a tipper with an email going around the Philippine Internet – outlining a possible initial fee of PHP 9,995.00 for the iPhone, but of course killing you with a monthly fee of P3,500.00. There’s a higher plan where you get the phone free but have to pay the rate of a Globe Platinum subscriber at P5,000.00. The latter plan is nothing new – it’s what Platinum and SMART Infinity subscribers pay for this type of service plus they get any phone they want so I will leave that be. Let’s not even talk about the prepaid plans. I have a completely different take on this. Enjoy:
I wrote about this before — forgot though if it was for print or the blogs — how the iPhone should PUSH telcos to come up with better products, rather than push the iPhone itself. After watching the keynote, it made me realize more and more why Apple works closely with a telco (AT&T) as a lot of the iPhone’s services rely on a more robust data plan, a data plan that is light years ahead of our own 3G infrastructure.
Hi Jones (no, really Hi! I didn’t see you at the last PRSP seminar I gave last week), if you’re reading this I really hope you guys can figure out how to revamp this plan to be more subscriber friendly. The reason why Steve Jobs slashed the iPhone price was to make it more appealing to the masses. As he said, everyone should own an iPhone. If I had a say in the marketing roadmap for the iPhone, I’d take this as an opportunity to do some wow-ing myself, introducing a really kick ass data plan EXCLUSIVE to iPhone buyers from Globe initially, rather than put together a hodge-podge excuse that smells of corporate spare parts, which is what the telco experience is starting to feel like. In short, the product isn’t the iPhone 3G – it’s a revamped 3G roadmap that’s too remarkable to pass up. The iPhone 3G would be, well, a springboard.
This may be an edge over competition that just wants to unlock an iPhone and use it with SMART. Truth is, the iPhone can-afford crowd is a year ahead of the average guy who hasn’t even heard of the launch date here in the Philippines (because they don’t read up on the Internet). They’re going to have an easier time sourcing the iPhone from abroad. Or Greenhills. Wherever. Just not with Globe.
As for me, I’m definitely getting one from relatives from the US who are coming home in a few weeksmaybe a second hand 1st Gen iPhone wil work? I can’t wait. It is for me, the perfect time to get an iPhone because of the SDK release and although you still can’t do MMS, video recording, Business Card forwarding, and Bluetooth file exchange, I’m still hooked, it’s insane. That really floored me. Or … maybe I’ll get one from SMART, who knows? 😉 (Oops. A slip? I’m such a tease.)
Speaking on the side, I highly doubt uMobile will carry the iPhone unless they develop a native MMS application as this is one of the primary methods for sending ads. iPhone doesn’t have MMS.
So there it is Globe. It isn’t about the iPhone. Although it definitely is a news maker, it won’t follow through with the geek community here. Hey, we’re better than that. I hope the pricing isn’t final.
8 replies on “My comments and suggestions for Globe’s Alleged iPhone 3G Price Scheme”
Hey Jayvee! Agree with you. Globe should find some way to keep the prices a bit lower. Their 3G Network ain’t that robust from what I’ve heard.
Having said that, there’s a problem with your plan to get from the US. You need to sign up for an AT&T plan on the spot. You can’t just buy it and bring it home like the old iPhone.
In my case, I’m leaning towards keeping my 1st gen 16GB iPhone, I’m not very confident I can take advantage of 3G locally.
Leo
hi leo, good to hear from you again after so long!
i was under the impression that the iPhone could be purchased via prepaid card and then unlocked? wasn’t this what some of the PhilMUG peeps did during the pioneer unlocking days?
No, Jayvee, the iPhones are supposed to leave the stores activated already. I hope Globe makes affordable Phone+SMS plans only for the iPhone. I can get into Wi-Fi almost everywhere I go, and am not really a heavy mobile internet user. If not, then I’d rather buy it unlocked at a much higher price than 9,000.
come to think of it, an alternative would be to just buy a second hand 1st gen iPhone.
Hi Jayvee, a jailbroken and unlocked iPhone has MMS sending and receiving capability. But that’s because it’s already hacked. hehe
Let’s just hope that the 3G version that’s going to come to our shores have this handy application bundled already. 🙂
Yeah, that’s why I’m not going to sell my 1st Gen iPhone, not just yet.
It’s not only the iPhone.. but the cellular service that Globe needs to promote basically!
It would really depend what Globe’s offer/plan would be, if it’s really enticing to even bother w/another contract, just to get another iPhone (agreeing also to what you’ve said above).
Globe should at least try to exploit the situation w/an end objective (not only to gain market share, but effectively steal it from the competition), and in order for them to make people switch to the iPhone eventually (they should first make it worth our while to upgrade, because we can afford the phone already.. and it’s the service feature/package, that needs further attention).
They should look closely at what their competition is currently offering (i.e. Smart) & they should also try to find that niche (sweet spot) for it’s target iPhone market as well (i.e. Sun), for the iPhone to become not only the “legal/local” cell to have.. but it speaks of tech form & function as well!
Globe & Smart basically are competing “head to head” for market share, but SUN’s (is the spoiler) w/it’s unlimited call & text feature for example has cornered a niche market that’s perhaps still not fully exploited by Sun (but IM & internet access would be better if it’s unlimited).
I have an iPhone already.. but since Sun lack an “unlimited GPRS or 3G data access feature/package,” I was previously hoping that Sun might offer the iPhone so that “type” of service might be offered eventually later (for that added-value that I’m willing to pay for), but that was before Globe was eventually declared the winner in providing the iPhone locally.
So if Globe could only take a “hint,” I’m one of those possible iPhone target market/users that they should be focusing on, as well!
: )
[…] If you’re from a country outside the US, you may want to see a post I made on the leaked pricing of the iPhone 3G in Asia from my personal blog. I also outlined how the iPhone isn’t the real product – it’s a kick ass […]
honestly I would rather buy the iPhone expensive than having a frustrating plans from cellular networks.