Drama Llama!
Computerworld’s Claire McEntee today reports that a ‘pricing row’ was behind the troubled iPhone 4 launch in New Zealand.
According to the report, Apple advised Vodafone of a price change right before it was set to hit New Zealand shelves. Vodafone apparently then threatened to cancel the launch entirely due to Apple’s request, the specifics of which at this time are unknown.
It doesn’t stop there either — the report claims that Vodafone’s head office in Britain had to intervene, forcing the New Zealand subsidiary to proceed with the launch.
Vodafone New Zealand have yet to comment on the launch drama and have seldom spoke of it on their Twitter account since a couple of days before launch.
In our opinion the true cause of the mucky launch needs to be established by Vodafone and explained to their somewhat angry spectators. From what I can see, this story is most likely true, as it explains why the iPhone 4 was not able to be purchased ‘outright’ without a 24 month contract (they wouldn’t make enough markup due to perhaps a price lowering request by Apple) — and perhaps gives a reason for Vodafone’s silence leading up to the launch.
– Computerworld.co.nz
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
Reading between the lines, you can speculate that Vodafone wanted to charge more than Apple’s RRP for the price, which sort of makes sense if you have high demand, low supply and are the exclusive launch partner. Apple spoke to Vodafone, said this is the price you WILL sell them for (as Apple does with ALL retail partners, or you don’t get to sell them). Vodafone would have then spat the dummy at not being able to gouge it’s customers like it’s used to, and then obviously VF UK said do it or else. Selling them without contract would have also done Vodafone’s head in, especially if they only had 5000.
(BurgerNZ has made 4 comments)
I dont want to know who is guilty, Vodafail should advised us as soon as they knew that the launch was cancelled, as a lot of people were waiting out of stores.
thanks to this lack of respect I canceled my plan and im a new XT customer, and guess what? I have better connection/reception than Vodafail..
(canito has made 5 comments)
I can’t see Apple expecting an exclusive partner (as VFNZ is in NZ) to sell their product at a loss but hey… if that was indeed the case I’ll stick with my wild notion I’d have loved to have seen VFNZ stick it to Apple and say no, your product is not worth the hassle. That would have landed them so much kudos here in little old NZ where we hate bending over for the big boys…
I’d have been much more inclined to stick with them after that. As it stands tho, I’m still not impressed with their handling of it fwiw. VFNZ are constantly saying they stand alone when it comes to stock numbers and pricing, that they can’t leverage the buying power of their global brand. That’s another statement that gets thrown to the weeds if it was VF HQ that decreed what they should sell and for how much.
After all said and done tho, it’s still the customer that loses in all of this.
(JimmyC has made 54 comments)
Not wanting to say “I told you so” – OK, actually I do want to say that
Here is my post from 3:56pm on launch day:
NZ_Guy says:
July 30, 2010 at 3:56 pm
So it seems like VF were grumpy about the Apple set RRPs and with VF close to loosing money if they sell as out-right. My guess is VF are still not happy but will do mainly on account stuff and leave Out-right purchases to Apple online store (and MagMac etc others once more stock is flowing). VF might even charge for MicroSims if you come in with an iPhone4 got from elsewhere.
(NZ_Guy has made 13 comments)
JimmyC wrote:
Vodafone New Zealand is a subsidiary of Vodafone Plc, a multinational British telecommunications company. Both Apple and Vodafone are huge global corporations. The only looser here was the New Zealand public.
(BurgerNZ has made 4 comments)
I tend to think this is correct.
When Vodafone updated there website around 10am on the 30th with iPhone pricing, the iPhone 4 with iPhone 40 plan was listed as 849. When I purchased it, the real price was actually 799.
I thought I had got lucky, but when recounting my story in the iPhonewzealand chatroom, another member pointed out that sometime after 10am, Vodafone had changed the price to 799 on their website.
This could mean that Vodafone NZ (when Vodafone UK forced their hand) quickly put up there original iPhone pricing and then had to quickly adjust it to meet Apple’s demands.
(pknz has made 93 comments)
Loves that ‘Vodafail’ logo ! Where can I buy the t-shirt ?
(alebar14 has made 22 comments)
What I dont understand is why the mainstream media have not picked this up?
A kick in the teeth for the kiwis while our Aussie cussies get the red carpet.
Is it worth emailing VFUK for an explanation, seeing as VFNZ are the new underground mafia.
The behaviour of VFNZ makes me want to……swear a lot…..in all my years I have never experienced this level of piss poor customer treatment.
I sure hope some shit gets the chop for this mess.
(jaytaylor has made 52 comments)
It has; http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/4003261/Pricing-row-behind-chaotic-iPhone4-launch
pknz wrote:
This makes sense. In the past, Vodafone has always been selling the iPhone at $30 more than Apple’s RRP. And it turns out that the price on the sales receipts from Vodafone was $20 less than Apple’s RRP this time around.
Imagine, if there was only initial stock of 5,000, and Vodafone was hoping to make a cut off each sale, even if that cut was only $30, that adds up to $150,000.
(B Gallagher has made 71 comments)
silly thing is ya buy the phone on contract disconnect following day and pay $30 less than retail??
Go telecom…. Bye Vodafone
(clintnz has made 6 comments)
Clint- I’ve often wondered about the numbers with opting out of a contract – how much was the phone on a plan and how much to opt out?
I’ve ordered online but I’ve seen people say this and i’m curious – i would have thought they would have made it economically un-viable to do that
(ioawnat has made 3 comments)
@ ioawnat:
Suprisingly not, I wrote this in some other comments but I got the 32gb for $799 on iPhone40 plan and disconnected 2 days later for $430+gst ($483.75) as well as 2 days of the $40 plan ($3.44), so it totaled $1287. They put up a fight to avoid terminating the contract but they can’t refuse.
(sharpy has made 26 comments)
Ghastly stuff indeed. Heads need to roll.
(motorwayne has made 11 comments)
i’m still waiting for an appology from Vodafone NZ, or i’m going to go 2 Degree. give them a chance. Everyone makes mistake.
(iFly has made 19 comments)
Sounds extremely plausible story. Handsets have very little mark up for Vodafone it's the contracts which are where the money is so I expect they would have been extremely annoyed when they were told they WILL sell at the RRP and not be able to have their little extra per handset. It's business, it's Apple and these things happen but it's how Vodafone NZ handled it and with their silence continue to handle it which is unacceptable.
There is no excuse in the world for letting people queue from the early hours for a product which they knew was not going to be on sale. No explanation, no apology, nothing, just customers left out in the cold……literally!
I had an iPhone 4 before launch and I am happy with XT and they p**sed me off so god only knows what their actual customers felt like. Hopefully they will get what they deserve from this, people buying the iPhone 4 and cancelling their contract as soon as they get home, people leaving them for XT and who knows maybe they have annoyed Apple enough for Telecom to get a look in.
(Paul has made 337 comments)
Yeah, well, aas of a few days ago the 32GB 3GS was selling for $100 *more* than buying a 32GB iPhone 4 from Apple. I'm sure Vodafone wanted to sell the handsets for more.
(suburban_ennui has made 76 comments)
Whoops… it’s time for apologize, Vodafail !
(alebar14 has made 22 comments)
I am guessing, Apple observing how many customers are buying the outright iPhone 4 from their website (apple.co.nz) and from the vodafail itself. At the end, the total figure number between the two (apple web and vodafail) will decide Apple to swap the exclusive carrier next year. This may a good chance for Telecom XT ! Way two thumbs down for NZ Vodafail.
(alebar14 has made 22 comments)
sharpy wrote:
So they only charge for the number of days before cancellation? I'd assumed you'd get pinged for a full month. In that case why even leave the store? As soon as you have the iPhone 4 in the box, start queuing again to cancel the contract. Saves an extra trip to the mall
(Craig has made 57 comments)