No iPhone at Apple Stores on July 11 But Don’t Blame Apple.

by Ben Lucier on July 8, 2008

On July 11, the launch of Apple’s latest 3G iPhone was supposed to happen at Rogers/Fido stores and also at Apple store locations. There’s a lot of speculation about why the Apple Store decided not to sell the phones on launch day, but to me it’s pretty clear: Apple employees are not Rogers employees.

It’s one thing for an Apple employee to sell an AT&T cell plan to a US-based customer. Give them your name, credit card and pick a simple plan, and your done. The proposition is different in Canada thanks to Rogers highly unpopular decision to forgo unlimited data plans.

All of a sudden, Rogers has been Apple in the role of a cell phone “consultant.” Apple reps will have to explain to customers the pros and cons about a particular plan, what’s appropriate for each customer, etc, etc. In the end, this puts far too much pressure and responsibility on Apple and that’s ultimately why I think decided not to sell the phone in their stores on July 11.

What do YOU think?

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  • Martin

    I think it’s simpler than that – Rogers has attracted lots of negative publicity over the iPhone launch. By limiting their role to just allowing people to play with the new device and telling customers “if you’d like one, we’re afraid you’ll have to deal with Rogers,” Apple is very effectively distancing themselves from both the carrier and the bad press. It’s a very cheap win for them and potentially a strong bit of support for Canadians looking to pressure Rogers into providing more reasonable rates (with Apple providing no effective cross-promotion to Rogers, the latter have just lost a ton of free positive advertising).

  • http://www.communityguy.ca Ben Lucier

    A good point Martin. I’m still a fan of my earlier train of thought though: it’s an operational nightmare albeit with a side order of negative publicity.

  • http://www.markevanstech.com Mark Evans

    Ben,
    What’s the difference between Apple Stores in Canada and Apple in the U.S. where AT&T offers a number of different voice/data plans?

  • http://www.communityguy.ca Ben Lucier

    Mark, it was my understanding that when the iPhone first launched, AT&T offered 3 plans: 400 minute, 700 minute and a 1350 minute. All had unlimited data, and rollover minutes.

    From a consumer’s perspective, choosing between 3 plans would be much simpler.

    While the initial release of the iPhone took place with a user sitting at home in front of their computer via iTunes, the 3G iPhone must be activated in store.

    You do bring up a good point and I admit I’m not 100% familiar with the new AT&T plans for the iPhone. My assumption is that Apple employees will have a much easier (read: faster) time processing customers on AT&T plans, compared to the complexity of the low value non-unlimited, 3 year Rogers plans.

    It might be a fun operational exercise… I wish I had more time to spend researching it. Want to go to Buffalo with me on the 11th with a stopwatch? :)

  • kev

    I think another factor is just plain old economics. with the negative feedback both apple and rogers has received, there’s some pretty strong concern the iphone won’t sell well in Canada. no one wants inventory that doesn’t move, and moving it to a market that it will sell in quickly make a lot more sense for both apple and the carriers.

    it also makes rogers look like chumps, in that they take the majority of the heat. it’s a smart play. apple’s good at making those. rogers… well…

  • Falkirk

    Gee, there’s some swell analyzing going on here. Except of course for the fact that it’s completely and totally wrong. Apple is only selling the iPhone in the USA. That’s right. Apple is not selling the iPhone in Canada or ANY OTHER COUNTRY other than the U.S. So the whole “Apple is mad at Rogers” thing. Complete non-starter.

    Please, take a step back and think about what you’ve been saying. First, you’re assuming that Apple was upset with Roger’s pricing because Apple was not aware of Rogers’ pricing before hand. Very unlikely.

    Second, you’re assuming that Roger’s made an agreement to sell Apple iPhones and DID NOT GET A WRITTEN COMMITMENT TO HAVE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF IPHONES DELIVERED. Ludicrous.

  • darthrogers

    The only way Apple could activate the devices in store would be if they became a Rogers Dealer. That has a very clear presecribed contract with terms around minimum activations, product lineups, branding etc.

    It is doubtful Apple stores would be interested in offering the complete suite of Rogers products which is what this would entail. Plus rather than create even more competition for those who are Rogers dealers now, this is only fair that Apple stores play by the same rules.

    QUIZ: What is the average monthly data usage of an iPhone user?

    A- 500 MB/month
    B- less than 100 MB/month
    C- 100-200 MB/month
    D- 4-5MB/month
    E 700 MB/month

    ANSWER: B- less than 100MB a month and the SMALLEST data bucket on the Rogers offerings at launch is 300MB so grow up and get off the unlimited crap.

    Btw AT&T does not have the extensive EDGE and HSPA coverage of Rogers nor does it have the frequency capacity 5Mhz per channel vs 1.25 Mhz for At&T and every other carrier in North America. So giving AT&T users so called “unlimited” data is like comparing going as fast as you want on labour day weekend on a one lane highway vs going 300 Miles per hour on the AutoBahn (Rogers HSPA is 5Mbps x 1Mbps real world- theoretical is 7.2 Mbps) Guess what, the 300Mph is faster. There is little risk to AT&T, much less possibility of an iPhone 3G user actually having a true 3G experience in the US of A.

    The greatest risk in having such a fast network with an unlimited plan for Rogers isnt when a sim is in the iPhone… its if a user then takes that chip and sticks it in a HSPA Aircard or USB modem and plugs it into a server say or uses this as “fixed” Internet for say oh… your office… as HSPA is now faster than DSL in many if not most areas in Canada.

    The BlackBerry Bold is out end of July and is as cool and much more functional from an email point of view. iyawn is fun but you’ll get sick (especially ladies and guys with large fingers) of trying to type on the iPhone screen vs a keyboard.

    BTW of course any device on a carrier comes with a contractual commitment to buy large quantity of devices however it is well known that Apple has serious production deficiencies and cannot keep up with demand so it is to be expected that there will being an ongoing “shortage” of devices in market (any market; USA, CND, Europe etc.) its not a planning issue at the carriers. They are pretty solid on consumer device forecasts.

  • James Sadoway

    honestly? well, rogers is offering a 30$ plan now, (although its for a limited time, and thats just bs. trying to make all the pissed of people happy, when they want real change)
    but it wouldn’t be that hard for an apple employ living in Canada to explain the iphone.. as im sure, they already know the rates going on in Canada, and are probably following the whole thing anyways (cmon, if ur gonna work for apple, you better know whats going on, and i bet they do. why would you hire an employee that ignorant)

    theres probably many factors, apple could have just realized, that we are the 2nd most expensive country for the iphone.. and hey. lets ship them somewhere else because we will sell more those place, people in Canada are just complaining.

    god oh god oh god, i wish there would be a cdma version…. i have an awsomest telus plan, and i just cant give it up. they give me to much free stuff.

  • Julia

    This whole talk of how the Apple store can’t sell the iphone because it’s difficult to explain the Rogers plans doesn’t make sense to me.
    Apple can sell the phone, period. There is no need to get involved into selling the plans. After a customer buys the phone, he/she can call Rogers and enroll on a plan. Each action is mutually exclusive.
    I know some of you will jump and say that without getting a plan a customer may not go with Rogers. But the SIM cards are locked under the Rogers network, and if that customer wants to unlock it, he/she can do that either way.

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