Japan’s Softbank Giving Away iPhones
9:26 am, February 25th, 2009, Ed Sutherland
Japan mobile carrier SoftBank Mobile has begun offering a free 8GB iPhone to entice customers to sign-up for lucrative two-year data plans.
As part of its “iPhone for Everybody Campaign,” Softbank is giving away the iPhone, which previously sold for $238.21 in Japan.
Through May, the carrier is also discounting the 16GB iPhone, charging just $4.96 per month, or $119.11 over the two-year contract.
When SoftBank began selling iPhones in July of last year, the 16GB handset carried a $238.21 price tag.
The program is just the latest offering consumers discounted iPhones. Earlier this week, electronics retailer Best Buy began offering iPhones for up to $100 off.
The discounts come as both retailers and carriers look to the June Worldwide Developer Conference, at which many believe Apple could unveil a new iPhone version.
Posted by Ed Sutherland in News | Comment on this article
Not too surprising that they’re trying this. Two-year contracts are like a Luddite sentence to any Japanese cellphone user. All it means is that not enough Japanese want the iPhone, which isn’t surprising considering it lacks a ton of features common to most all Japanese phones.
Dann, on February 25th, 2009 at 11:24 am