Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank Mobile has unveiled particular details on their pricing strategy for the July 11th launch of the Apple iPhone 3G mobile phone. SoftBank, the third biggest mobile phone operator in Japan are so far the only Japanese carrier to confirm the deal with Apple.
SoftBank is to sell the Apple iPhone 3G 8GB for ¥23,040 which is roughly $214.00, and the 16GB iPhone 3G will go for ¥34,560 which is about $321.00, which is only a tad higher than the $199.00 and $299.00 being charged by AT&T in the States.
CEO of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son said: “There have been users who were just attracted to our low price, but the main point this time is feature attractiveness rather than price.” Son also predicts the Apple iPhone 3G will be a sell-out in Japan, and he expects to see the first batch of iPhone 3G’s to “evaporate instantly, and that supplies will likely be scarce for a while.”
SoftBank have historically stolen customers from its rivals by extreme aggressive pricing, but this time is taking a more detached approach in the hopes the prestige of the Apple iPhone 3G will be more than enough to get customers through their doors.
SoftBank has said their monthly charge for the iPhone 3G will be ¥7,280, roughly $68.00 per month which will include unlimited data and represents approximately 70% premium over the average SoftBank customer’s bill.
Source – Reuters
