Grabbing an iPhone from across the border has never been a particular problem for those Canadians desperate to unlock and enjoy the touch-screen trend appeal of Apple’s popular smartphone handset. However, the wait will soon be over for other prospective iPhone buyers perhaps not willing to risk voiding their warranty for the opportunity.
Rogers confirms that the iPhone will be in Canada before the end of 2008. Image: Rogers/Apple.
More pointedly, leading Canadian telecommunications company Rogers has this week confirmed that it has struck a carrier deal with California-based Apple Inc. to officially bring the versatile iPhone north before the close of 2008.
“We’re thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada,” revealed company president Ted Rogers in a statement. “We can’t tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned.”
According to a CTV report, the Canadian iPhone deal arrives following a recent run of impressive market performance by Ontario-based Rogers Communications Inc., which has this year registered first-quarter profits of $344 million as opposed to $170 million during the same period in 2007.
While a hot seller in the United States, where it has been available since June of 2007, the iPhone has struggled to gain similar traction across Europe since releasing there in the following November -- not least because European consumers generally receive their handsets for free alongside a fixed term usage contract.
Recently, exclusive iPhone carriers in the UK and Germany have issued sizeable price cuts to the 8GB model in what many industry watchers believe is a move to drum up more interest for an otherwise expensive piece of equipment.
Similarly, the first-generation iPhone runs on EDGE network technology, while superior 3G networks are much more prevalent across Europe. It is also possible that carriers are hacking down the iPhone’s price in order to clear original stock ahead of the upcoming release of Apple’s 3G iPhone replacement.
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