The iPhone comes to France – for a variety of prices


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Of all the places that the iPhone has gone on sale, I think France is – by far – the most interesting. Orange, who has the “exclusive” contract with Apple (but it’s hardly what I would call exclusive at this point) is reporting that over 50,000 users have already placed orders for Apple’s revolutionary phone…but there is no word on how many of them actually plan to stay with Orange for service.

See, in France, the iPhone is available at a variety of different price levels. It starts at 399 euros if you agree to a 2 year service agreement and pick one of four “Orange for iPhone” plans. If you choose not to go with a two-year contract, but still want to stay with Orange for your service for now, you can buy the iPhone for 549 euros.

If however, you choose not to use Orange as your provider at all, and merely want to purchase an iPhone you can do that for 649 euros…but wait…Apple and Orange are also charging an additional 100 euro fee for the unlocking, which brings the cost of the iPhone up to 749 euros if you want a fully unlocked device that you can take to other networks.

So, you have lots of options for purchasing your iPhone in France. Are any of them good? Well, I would have loved the option of buying the iPhone for $549 in the US – so that I wouldn’t have had to extend my contract with AT&T (and – you know, since I spent $599 on it WITH the contract).

(and yes, I understand euros and dollars aren’t the same thing – but the phone is 399 euros in the UK and France, and $399 here in the US – so one could assume if we had these options they would be the same price)

I think 749 euros is a bit much for an iPhone, but it’s certainly better than the 999 price in Germany.

It’s very interesting how all this is playing out overseas for iPhone sales and pricing. I wonder how long it will be before some goofball files a lawsuit over here because of it?


Kokou Adzo

Kokou Adzo is a stalwart in the tech journalism community, has been chronicling the ever-evolving world of Apple products and innovations for over a decade. As a Senior Author at Apple Gazette, Kokou combines a deep passion for technology with an innate ability to translate complex tech jargon into relatable insights for everyday users.

One Comment

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  1. I really had to say, but us folks in Hong Kong will never pay more than US$20 for any phone contract. The news I’ve been hearing from France that a month’s cost is over €30 is really sickening (for 2 hours talk time?). In Hong Kong, we get 1000 minutes for US$12 plus GPRS.

    Maybe you folks need to complain to your three monopolistic providers…