# Bizarre: buy your shiny new iPhone at BestBuy in Canada (eventually)



## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

*.*

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## gizmo321 (Oct 27, 2006)

x 1000000000000000
I really hope it's coming soon. :clap: 

Time to sell my old cell phone and my nano....


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## jaline (Jul 7, 2007)

The iPhone is "an revoluationary" new device ??

They need a better editor.

Unless they meant "revaluation", but the "an" is still misused. And that wouldn't make sense anyway.


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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

Interesting piece of info.

I just read on HowardForums that Best Buy and Future Shop don't sell Rogers cell phones... so Best Buy advertising the iPhone seems quite odd.

Coincidentally, I was in Future Shop yesterday and I glanced at the cell phones, I distinctively remember Telus and Bell phones, as well as Virgin mobile, but I don't recall seeing Rogers branded phones.

I wonder if Best Buy knows something we don't... an unlocked GSM iPhone coming to Canada?


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## Fredou51 (Oct 29, 2006)

emalen said:


> Interesting piece of info.
> 
> I just read on HowardForums that Best Buy and Future Shop don't sell Rogers cell phones... so Best Buy advertising the iPhone seems quite odd.
> 
> ...


That would be awesome. I guess if Best Buy posted something like this, it's because they know more and they are in talk with Apple. They wouldn't post this not knowing at all when it's coming.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## adagio (Aug 23, 2002)

I thought it weird at first but upon thinking it makes sense. Canada doesn't have near the penetration of Apple stores or Rogers stores to handle the distribution and demand. They need to utilize other resources.

All the speculation has been laughable. We're talking about an iPhone. No other product in decades has had more hype. There is NO other phone like it on the market. Rogers knows this, Apple knows it. I'm willing to bet we will see something very similar to the US. Apple plays hardball. They wouldn't sell their product here without some consideration towards us, the consumer. Apple fought the music industry and brought us affordable music at iTMS. They will do so with the iPhone.

I've previously stated we WILL see an iPhone this year. There have been high level talks despite some writings here to the contrary. There is a tremendous lot to get organized and upgrades to be done by our suppliers. Logistics have to be sorted out. There's a million little things that we haven't even considered that need doing before the iPhone launch. Best Buy is just one example.

Canada will get our iPhone soon. I'm waiting patiently to buy the iPhone and be able to use ALL its features without hassles or jumping through hoops.


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## adagio (Aug 23, 2002)

HowEver said:


> Or... perhaps BestBuy is merely driving web traffic to their site, phishing email addresses for their own spamming purposes, and unnecessarily fueling online speculation--for which I've provided an unfortunate assist. We'll see.


I considered this as well. They got my junk e-mail addy.


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## krug1313 (Apr 27, 2007)

Best Buy does sell Fido phones with contracts.

Best Buy Canada


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## imachungry (Sep 19, 2004)

I don't care what Apple has said about the phone not coming until next year. Bottom line is that they will have the phone in stores asap to head off the hacking efforts and crazy international interest. It's just that simple. It makes sense BestBuy will carry it. Otherwise, the ad makes no sense at all.


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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

I don't really get it... I understand why Apple has locked in with AT&T in the US... but for Canada, there's only one option if you're going GSM... Rogers/Fido. If they can't make a deal with Rogers... why not just sell it unlocked... and let the money roll in.

Of course I assume there would still be some sort of 'lock' to ensure the phone is associated with a Canadian carrier, or else anyone from the US could buy the 'Canadian version' and use it on any network in the US.


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## Gene Rayburn (Jun 30, 2007)

emalen said:


> I don't really get it... I understand why Apple has locked in with AT&T in the US... but for Canada, there's only one option if you're going GSM... Rogers/Fido. If they can't make a deal with Rogers... why not just sell it unlocked... and let the money roll in.


The only issue with that is that the iPhone requires a lot of carrier involvement to get it to work -- AT&T, as you know, had to do huge refits and updates to its network in order to get the iPhone working fully, especially in terms of the Visual Voicemail. If Apple walked away from Rogers, it'd be much less likely that Rogers would choose to make those updates and Apple would be left with a crippled iPhone for Canada.

Another less important issue I could think of is the fact that setting up an unlocked phone is more difficult than just walking into a Rogers store and buying a phone. Remember that tech-savvyness is not widespread in society, and if Apple complicated the process with unlocked-only phones, many people would be turned off by the extra work involved.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

Yeah I get that it's a touch contradictory. I just don't think Apple can sell a fully unlocked phone, because there's no doubt some AT&T contract provisions. Who are we kidding. Rogers is definitely going to be selling this phone. It's just a matter of when. 

They could do us all a favor by at the very least just announcing a date so this maddening speculation can be put to rest.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

emalen said:


> ...They could do us all a favor by at the very least just announcing a date so this maddening speculation can be put to rest.


This maddening speculation is also known as "free advertising" and "hype".
Quite valuable. Millions of dollars worth of valuable.


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

HowEver said:


> ...Of course BestBuy has nothing to lose by not announcing that they aren't selling a device that isn't yet available...


Absolutely!
And the unintended/fully-intended search results are probably driving tons of visitors to their website. :greedy:


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

HowEver said:


> The sale date announcement worked for AT&T in the US, but it will kill Rogers' sales of other devices in the interim. Rogers practically never announces future sales dates--with a few exceptions that amounted to a couple of days' notice.
> 
> Of course BestBuy has nothing to lose by not announcing that they aren't selling a device that isn't yet available...


What exactly would be the difference between AT&T announcing 6 months before launch, and Rogers doing the same? Did AT&T not risk killing sales of other devices during the first half of this year?

I'm sorry but I don't buy that argument unless there is something that would support it.

Rogers appears to be doing a typical "don't understand the Apple" thing, "this is just one more typical cell phone, nothing special here. We'll take our time and maybe we'll talk to Apple about a deal, maybe we won't."

Unlike the US market, where the competition is fierce, Rogers is enjoying way too much success. Sadly this has contributed to the higher rate plans, and terrible customer service that virtually all telecommunication companies in Canada give their customers. 

We want Rogers to bring out the iPhone. They say no. What are we going to do?

We want lower rate plans from all of the carriers, including better pricing for data plans. They say no. What are we going to do?

We want better customer service. They don't change. What are we going to do?

We want the carriers to treat their existing customers to the same promotions that they offer new customers. They don't. What are we going to do?

One of the biggest problems is that they all know that we don't have much of a choice, the competition is no better. 

We truly need to have an alternative come into the country that ups the level of customer service, while lowering the costs. And that is not about to happen soon.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

I thought companies don't make money on the phones, they make money on the plans. It wouldn't make a difference for Rogers anyway. Besides, whether or not Rogers pre-announces the iPhone, a lot of people are anticipating the phone will get released. New phone sales are already being cannibalized mostly by people who are thinking of a new cell phone but think it can wait and even people who urgently need a new cell phone who'd rather get a cheap handset off of Craigslist and use it in the interim. But they barely make money off phones anyway so they don't care, they have more than enough subscribers to keep them afloat until they release the iPhone.


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## Cliffy (Apr 18, 2005)

Oakbridge said:


> We want lower rate plans from all of the carriers, including better pricing for data plans. They say no. What are we going to do?
> 
> We want better customer service. They don't change. What are we going to do?
> 
> ...


They aren't even worried about people switching to Fido now that they own them. I do like the customer service better than Rogers though.

I found a new GSM carrier in Canada that seems to be doing some interesting stuff. They offer something like T-Mobile's [email protected] with a wifi/gsm phone. I don't know if they are a VMNO.

Harmony Mobile would pull a coup if they could steal the iPhone away from Rogers. I don't see pricing on data plans though ( I could just be missing it).


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## dwp (Aug 12, 2003)

HowEver said:


> iPhone - BestBuy.ca


This has more to do with Best Buy Marketing Best Buy than the iPhone. Collect thousands of e-mail addresses and pummel everyone with the latest sales flyer.

I doubt very much that the iPhone will live up to the hype initially although it does seem to be the way of future communication devices.

The real question will be "How much will all of this cost the average user and do you really need all of the features offered?"

I'm sure many people will be looking at their cell phone bills six months into a 3 year contract and wonder why they ever thought getting an iPhone was a good idea.


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

With Bell and Telus looking looking like they are going to scrap much of their business, Rogers is certainly in a position to take much of the market. I think the only thing that holds them back is their obsolete Fido network, which could soon be ejected. The fact is that North America is entirely retrograde in having set up useless Digital PCS networks, contrary to the adoption of GSM everywhere else in the world. So the iPhone has been introduced at the perfect time.

Motorola used to be a major player, but as we have seen with their semiconductors; they are all too willing to give up their cellular products in the face of competition from Finland. Someone has to step into the void.

Do not even mention HP... Ever since old man Hewlett and old man Packard died, that company has entirely degenerated. It used to be that only their Oscilloscopes were shoddy - now that shoddiness has crept into every sector of their business. No wonder why the technocrats of the Far East are picking them off all over the place. And though the iPhone is designed in North America, it is made in the Far East, with the most advanced technology available. If I had a reason to have a cell phone, I would certainly beat a path to the iPhone. Even if it is for web browsing... It does not have £o$€Doz€ C€... I'd buy it just for that!

And then their are the naysayers that say that 8GB is far too little... I reckon about 14 hours of music listening (uncompressed!), so if I had a purpose for a cell phone, the iPhone would handle much of my needs. Besides, I could buy a laptop for cheaper - but I'd look like a dork walking around talking into my iBook running Skype...

So don't say nay, you naysayers... Remember, if Micro$£oth Vi$ta Ultimate Premium Professional Maximum Whatever Cash We Can Grab From Our Foolish Customers can grab the marketshare...

Why do they call it "Best Buy" anyways???


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

dwp said:


> ...I doubt very much that the iPhone will live up to the hype ....


Well, there's no further need for conjecture.  According to the featured reviews on MDN, the iPhone has already _more_ than lived up to the hype:
http://www.macdailynews.com/

Apple delivered on iPhone promise
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003778367_ptmacc07.html

Apple's iPhone; "Editor's Choice"
http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/review4326.html

Stuff Magazine - iPhone 5 out of 5 stars
http://stuff.tv/Review/id-6437/

iPhone: Excellent Audio Quality
http://www.wirelessinfo.com/content/Apple-iPhone-Cell-Phone-Review/Audio-Quality.htm

Business Week: iPhone Worth the Wait
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2007/tc2007072_566298.htm

Philadelphia Inquirer iPhone review:
http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20070703_iPhone_rocks_.html

etc....


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## satchmo (May 26, 2005)

EvanPitts said:


> Rogers is certainly in a position to take much of the market. I think the only thing that holds them back is their obsolete Fido network, which could soon be ejected. The fact is that North America is entirely retrograde in having set up useless Digital PCS networks, contrary to the adoption of GSM everywhere else in the world. So the iPhone has been introduced at the perfect time.


 
On one hand you're suggesting that FIDO is obsolete and may be ejected but then go on to praise GSM? You do realize Fido is GSM based, right?


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## dwp (Aug 12, 2003)

This is hype... which is often disguised as "News" or "Journalism".



SoyMac said:


> Well, there's no further need for conjecture.  According to the featured reviews on MDN, the iPhone has already _more_ than lived up to the hype:
> MacDailyNews - Apple and Mac News - Welcome Home
> 
> Apple delivered on iPhone promise
> ...


Let's get some real opinions from consumers who actually "PURCHASED" the iPhone rather than the cheerleading squad who were given iPhones to play with free of charge.


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## adagio (Aug 23, 2002)

I have numerous American friends who have purchased iPhones. It's not hype. In fact, a few sounded like some folks here prior to owning one and now they can't stop singing the iPhone's praises. 

I suspect the majority of naysayers will change their tune when they get to handle an iPhone themselves.


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

HowEver said:


> I could have stopped reading after the first sentence. Rogers already has "much of the market," and Bell and Telus aren't giving up anything (except one might buy the other; probably won't; so what if they do? it hardly means the dismantling of Bell's networks).


When a company is in such a weak position financially that they are entirely left open to hostile takeovers and "merger mentality" - they are preparing for the acceptance of the mantra of Corporate America. That is, loot the place and run as fast as possible - then the Japanese, or whoever, will step in and take over the whole business. Bell used to be a high quality company with a very good reputation, then they went Corporate America, and hence, are in a position where their finances are in such poor condition that they have to be bought out by each other, or by retired school teachers. The same thing has happened in so many other industries, and just like the television, I await for the Japanese to just set up shop and take over the whole business.

Rogers' business has been based on a strategy of high risk finances, and to a point it worked well, until they undercut themselves by wasting good money on the obsolete technology and poor coverage of Fido. I used to be with Rogers, but after two years I grew tired of their poor service, their corporate ripoffs, and the fact that Radio Shack went out of business - so I was faced with once a month calls to refill the phone (instead of the convenience of two phone cards per year)...

So Bell, Telus and the rest of them are fighting uselessly over the scraps; and one day a foreign company... Wait, Virgin IS HERE. Now if Virgin's phones weren't so crummy???



HowEver said:


> "Useless" Digital PCS networks? You mean the analog network that grew Rogers' business to prepare for domination by GSM? GSM isn't "everywhere" else, but it certainly is already "everywhere" in North America. Rogers is Canada's largest digital network--via GSM. For example.


Useless Digital PCS was only ever really adopted in North America, Europe and the rest of the world gravitated rapidly to GSM as a global standard. Hence the cost of operation of a cell phone on a GSM system is significantly lower, and many people in Europe and elsewhere tend to use cell phones; whereas the limits of Digital PCS and the higher costs make land lines more attractive here. I read right here on Ehmac that the cost of downloding a half gig of data in Rwanda is about $75; whereas here the same data transfer would cost between $750-$1600! Besides, it is useless when a phone here can not work anywhere else... Recall that GSM really did kill of the IRIDIUM system (which was more costly than Inmarsat...)



HowEver said:


> Actually, I believe market share is heading slightly the other way, but Nokia's grip is still pretty firm. For them as cares whether you sell 22 million cell phones in a given period of time instead of 23.


Motorola is a shell of a company compared to the glory days when that name not only meant something, the product was something. Sure they make some money cranking out cell phones (and I do own one of their phones myself and was quite happy until Rogers stopped their cell phone service in this area); but I can see that the edge is now flowing to companies like Samsung and LG, who are willing to make phones that people want and will purchase.

And I say all the power to Best Buy, because I think the iPhone will be an unqualified success with a myriad of imitators; and I would buy one if it fit into the way I do business. But I may not be the one to talk, I still use an old black dial phone, proudly built by Northern Telecom - remember when they were a player??? Too bad Best Buy doesn't sell any dial phones, with the cool buttons to put people on hold, because that would give me a reason to go into their store.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## zen.state (Nov 29, 2005)

All the Canadian gadget whores must be foaming at the mouth


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## wytwolf (Oct 5, 2006)

Too bad GSM coverage sucks in Newfoundland. Oh well guess i'll just have to wait for the cdma version to come out.


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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

emalen said:


> Interesting piece of info.
> 
> I just read on HowardForums that Best Buy and Future Shop don't sell Rogers cell phones... so Best Buy advertising the iPhone seems quite odd.
> 
> ...


So what if Best Buy doesn't sell Rogers phones? In the states you do not activate the iPhone, pick a plan, sign a contract or anything like that when you buy the phone, all that stuff comes when you get home and do it on iTunes. 

The way Apple is selling these phones they can just sell them in any store they want really, Rogers won't really have much say in where the iPhone is sold. So Apple selling the iPhone at Best Buy would have nothing to do with Rogers, you would just be walking into Best Buy and buy the iPhone the same way you buy an iPod, take it home and do all the activation stuff from iTunes.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

HowEver said:


> The split between BestBuy and Rogers was somewhat bitter.


That maybe so, but my point is that it wouldn't be Rogers selling the iPhone thru Best Buy, it will be completely Apple selling the iPhone through Best Buy. Rogers won't have say in the matter as it will be Apple's phone that just uses Rogers as the carrier rather than it being a Roger's phone.


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## drzeus (Jul 10, 2007)

I hate to be the guy that says this out loud. I don't want this to be true, but I really believe that we have a problem.

Fact 1: Roger's thinks it has Apple behind the 8-ball because it is the only GSM provider in Canada.

Fact 2: Apple asked a LOT of AT&T to get the iPhone. It has done software re-writes to do visual voicemail and has made upgrades to its EDGE network, something that Rogers isn't really motivated to do.

Speculation 1: Goldman Sachs let slip today that the "iPhone nano" is on track for Q4.

Speculation 2: Many people feel that Q4 is when we will see an iPhone in Canada.

I don't think we are going to see a fully functional iPhone in Canada. I think Roger's is going to play hardball and lose the deal. The nano iPhone is possibly not GSM and would open it to other carriers. Even if it stayed Roger's, it would get crippled functionality because Roger's will resist the network changes.

As for Best Buy not selling Roger's, I wouldn't get hung up on that. Remember, you aren't activating the phone and buying the plan in-store, like you are with the other phones. You buy the phone and activate at home, and you could do that at a Mac's Milk, if you wanted.


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## KPenner (Aug 13, 2004)

I'm going to resurrect this old thread only because Bestbuy started selling Rogers phones this week. Any thoughts?


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## (( p g )) (Aug 17, 2002)

Err...well it means Rogers has finally figured out that they can sell more phones by including BB/FutureShop in their business model.



KPenner said:


> I'm going to resurrect this old thread only because Bestbuy started selling Rogers phones this week. Any thoughts?


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## Veej (Feb 16, 2006)

Apple should [email protected]#@ Robbers and its Dog FIDO....

They should Get together with Virjin-Richard Branson and create an new GSM if they could beat Robbers and his dog Fido at their own game in Canadabeejacon


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## Gene Rayburn (Jun 30, 2007)

Did anyone notice that Best Buy for some reason brought this promo page back? After having kept it deleted for the past few months, Best Buy for some reason has been persistent and brought the page back, though with an even more handsoff-ish message. What are you guys' thoughts?

Here's the link again: iPhone - BestBuy.ca


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## gastonbuffet (Sep 23, 2004)

i wonder how the strong loonie will affect the "price" on the rogers iphone plan. I mean, if the public wants the strong loonie to get them a deal comparable as in the U.S., they might have enough pressure to cave.


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## Meleemark (Mar 3, 2007)

Gene Rayburn said:


> Did anyone notice that Best Buy for some reason brought this promo page back? After having kept it deleted for the past few months, Best Buy for some reason has been persistent and brought the page back, though with an even more handsoff-ish message. What are you guys' thoughts?
> 
> Here's the link again: iPhone - BestBuy.ca


The page exists for one reason, its a marketing funnel for Bestbuy to collect email addresses for their various promo and newsletter emails. They are promising absolutely nothing about the iPhone.


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## KPenner (Aug 13, 2004)

I disagree. I signed up for the iphone newsletter in June under my spam email account and have not recieved a single email from Bestbuy.


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## shazbat (Feb 7, 2005)

jaline said:


> The iPhone is "an revoluationary" new device ??
> 
> They need a better editor.


Perhaps it started out as "an evolutionary" new device. Either way it's bad.


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