Remember when Vodafone
told us to hold our horses a bit on the pricing details when the BlackBerry Storm was made official this month? Believe it or not, the holding period is over, and now we're staring some actual price tags in the face. Reportedly, Voda will make the
touchscreen BlackBerry available with four different pricing plans, so we'll get right to it. The Perfect Choice Access 100 plan will get you a Storm for €109.99 ($141), while the per-month rate (€49.99; $64) will include 100 minutes (yes, seriously), 100 texts (still for real here, people), 1GB of BlackBerry e-mail, mobile TV and ten music downloads. The Perfect Choice Access 200 / 400 / 600 plans bump up the minutes and texts just as you'd expect for €64.99 / €84.99 / €99.99 per month while netting you the phone for €64.99 / €69.99 / €49.99, respectively. For the full spill, head on down to the read link -- meanwhile, here in America, we all sit waiting for Verizon to follow suit...
[Via
CrackBerry]
posted Oct 30th 2008 6:39PM
Don't get me wrong here - I'm not one to defend the gouging prictices of the European carriers - but keep in mind that those minute and text plans are outgoing-only. They get free incoming everything across the pond. Not to mention phenomenal prices on their handsets.
...those jerks.
Yeh the only problem is, phones like this, the Touch HD, Xperia, and iPhone, all go to the netowrks with data plans that are either extertionately expensive or non-existant.
But there's always the option of buying the handset only, or unlocked but subsidised with a contract from a reseller.
In the Uk, all carriers have unlimited data plans that costno more than £7.50 to add on.
Bad News: There's no such thing as Free in this fair usage world :/(my £7.50 "unlimited" data package with vodaphone is limited to 500mb through the FUP).
What! they charge you for incoming calls in the USA? damn i thought racketeering was strictly a British thing.
http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/mobile-phones/pay-monthly/blackberry/storm/
For 18 months, you can get a plan that has 600 min. / unlimited text / unlimited internet and email for only 40 pounds (about $65). And the phone is FREE!
I would say that's pretty dang good! Right now on Verizon, I get 450 min. / no texts / unlimited internet for $50. Add 150 min. and unlimited text for $15? I'm okay with that! Let's just hope Verizon does a similar plan.
Geez, bump it up to a 2-yr contract.. the standard for US carriers.. and you get 600 mins +Unlimited texts and data for 35 British pounds, AND the free phone!
TORONTO (Dow Jones)--Shares of Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM:$50.41,00$3.02,006.37%) are up 6.4%, on news that Vodafone Group PLC (VOD:$19.23,00$-0.51,00-2.58%) will give the BlackBerry Storm away with an 18-month contract.
Equally important for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM:$50.41,00$3.02,006.37%) is that Vodafone (VOD:$19.23,00$-0.51,00-2.58%) aims to have the device in subscriber hands by Nov. 11. That's significant because it means the Storm will be available for the holiday- shopping season, and nearly three weeks before the Nov. 29 end of RIM's third quarter.
Investors had feared that the Storm, RIM's first touch-screen version of the BlackBerry, wouldn't be available before the end of the third quarter, heightening the risk of an earnings shortfall.
In a note earlier this week, Genuity Capital'sDeepak Chopra said he believes RIM needs to add 1.4 million subscribers in November to meet guidance for 2.9 million subscriber additions in the quarter. He said he believes strong Storm sales will be critical for RIM to achieve that number.
The Storm will be sold in the U.S. by Verizon Wireless (VRZ.XX). Verizon (VZ:$30.7615,$0.2615,0.86%) , a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ:$30.7615,$0.2615,0.86%) and Vodafone (VOD:$19.23,00$-0.51,00-2.58%) , hasn't said when the device will go on sale or offered pricing details. A Verizon (VZ:$30.7615,$0.2615,0.86%) spokeswoman declined to comment for this story.
RIM, Waterloo, Ont., dominates the corporate-smartphone market, but has also taken share in the consumer market by introducing several consumer-friendly devices, such as the BlackBerry Storm, Curve and Pearl. However, the stock is off about 55% year to date, as the slowing economy has raised fears that consumers and corporations will cut spending.
RIM's stock has also been hurt by product delays, concerns about competition from Apple Inc.'s (AAPL:$108.357,0$-2.683,0-2.42%) iPhone and the company's decision to sacrifice margins for market share. In September, RIM said it expects gross margins to be in the mid-40% range for the foreseeable future, as it spends heavily on marketing and new devices to take share in the burgeoning smartphone market. Margins had historically been in the 50-51% range.
Vodafone's (VOD:$19.23,00$-0.51,00-2.58%) Storm giveaway is consistent with RIM's strategy, though it isn't clear if RIM is providing the carrier with added incentives. Vodafone (VOD:$19.23,00$-0.51,00-2.58%) subscribers can obtain a free Storm by agreeing to an 18-month contract with monthly service fees starting at GBP40 a month.
A Vodafone U.K. rival, 02, offers a free 16-gigabyte version of the iPhone with an 18-month contract starting at GBP75 a month. The 8-gigabyte iPhone model is free with an 18-month contract and a monthly fee starting at GBP45.
Earlier this month, Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI:$28.99,00$0.12,000.42%) , the big Canadian carrier, cut its price on the BlackBerry Bold to C$299 from C$399. On Friday, Boy Genius Report, a well-regarded blog that monitors the consumer-electronics industry, reported that Best Buy (BBY:$26.51,00$1.90,007.72%) is selling the Bold in Canada for just C$ 199.99. This was confirmed on the Best Buy Canada Web site.
AT&T Inc. (T:$27.73,00$0.63,002.32%) is scheduled to start selling the Bold in the U.S. for US$299.99 with a two-year contract.
On Nasdaq Friday, RIM is up $3.02 to $50.41 on 7.2 million shares.