So I’ve been using my iPhone for about a week now. Its lovely. But this is about the cost.I was watching a video on YouTube about the iPhone making a deal about the overall cost. So I wanted to address the issues raised.
Contract Length – O2 require an 18 month contract. OH MY GOD! 18 Months? Now, I remember a few years back 12 month contracts were the main thing. Now, its extremely unlikely that you’ll get a 12 month contract. Go into any shop, or onto any website and the default option now is 18 months. So thats not a big deal. Get over it. (and Orange offer 24 months too)
Contract cost – 35 massive pounds per month. WOAH! Thats loads(!). Now I realise that that may be a lot for some people, but lets look at the other networks. Orange offer 7 contracts under £35 per month, 2 at £35 per month, and 4 over £35. In equivalent tariff would set you back at least £30 a month for the same or more texts and calls.
Data Package – On top of the basic cost you would have to pay data charges. For 200MB of data (the former limit on O2) you would pay an additonal £35! It costs £8 for 3oMB of data. So take into account that O2 is Unlimited and thats an infinite cost (only limited by your use)!
Wifi – The Cloud.net offers unlimited WiFi use for £7.99 per month. Its free for iPhone users
Handset Cost – OK you can get a free handset from most carriers, like the N95 (the most compared handset). Great. It plays music, videos, has GPS, 3G etc. I could get into that discussion but I won’t. iPhone costs you £269. Thats it. Its yours. If you cancel the contract, its yours. If you cancel any other one, you have to pay the rest of the contract. If you cancel within the 14 days you have to return your handset. Not with the iPhone. What about the features.Total
Costs
Non-iPhone handset Free
Contract £30.00 x 18 months
Data Use £35.00 x 18 months
Wifi £7.99 x 18 months
Total = £1313.82
iPhone £269
Contract £35.00
Data use Included
Wifi Included
Total £899
Now excuse my maths, but it would appear that a non-iPhone costs £414 LESS than a comparable option. lets also consider you want a full internet browser, photo browser, music player. You didn’t pay for your phone so you could buy an iPod Touch. Thats another £199 for 8GB. So the total is now £1512.
So there you go. Its not a bad deal. Its a GREAT deal, and you have a fantastic handset with a full internet browser, large screen for viewing photos, videos, maps, stocks, weather, calendar, and more. You get Visual Voicemail. No other network offers this. Random access voicemail is probably a key feature for people who get lots of messages, like sales people. A full web browser with an intuitive interface is fantastic. For that mobile, you might look at a Nokia N800 (£229).
Please, argue these points. Let me know your thoughts. Have I done the maths wrong? Am I overlooking something?
5 Comments
if you cancel the iphone contract the phone is yours but you wont be able to use it ’cause it only works on that contract.
Seems to me like you’re trying to convince yourself that you have a good deal more than convince the reader that you have one. The iPhone’s an expensive option and that’s the bottom line.
to use an analogy: A Porsche and an Vauxhall Astra are both cars, they essentially do the same thing but you’ll look better doing those things in a Porsche.
Actually Rich I am trying to counterargue all the reports that came out stating how expensive the iPhone was by comparing two phone plans i had around the same time as each other.
To use your analogy, I am not merely at the price of the car, but the maintenance cost, petrol costs, MOT, insurance, repairs, etc.
Here your analogy doesn’t follow through. Sometimes people only look at the initial cost, not the cost over the life of the product. Like housing. A mortgage is supposed to be cheaper than rent, but the you have buidlings insurance, repair costs, decoration, building additions if you want, etc. It all adds up, compared to rent, where you pay your money, and the landlord has to fork out for broken equipment/repairs.
The iPhone 3G at £99 is brilliant value and the £35 a month deal is tempting, but I think a 12 month contract would be more suited as there has been this iPhone upgrade in 12 months.
It is tempting (although an upgrade to another 8GB phone isn’t much of an upgrade to me) but for me, the benefits aren’t great enough to warrant it.
It certainly makes the whole phone even cheaper over the life of ownership. Drop that £899 down to £729.
Who’s going to upgrade?