iPhone 3G in Japan: Prices & Plans Released!
Counting down to its July 11 multi-national debut, Japan’s Softbank has announced (in Japanese, ‘natch) their official iPhone 3G prices and plans. The hardware itself will cost ¥23,040 for 8GB and ¥34,560 for 16GB, a roughly 7% premium over Steve Jobs’ US$199 maximum, amortized over the length of the pre-requisite 2 year contract.
Plans will be color coded, primarily in white, but rumor has it also in orange and blue. Based on the linked-to details, this color system is impenetrable enough I can’t believe North American carriers haven’t rushed to adopt it!
Any Japanese readers who can shed further light on how these charges will shake out on a data-hungry iPhone-class device, please let us know in the comments!
June 25th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Hi! I live in Tokyo, Japan. The plans for this phone are differant compared to all the other models that Softbank offers. White plan is about $10 am month, with free calls on Softbank network most of the day and evening. About 40cents a min. to non softbank numbers. Flat data pack is $60 extra but you have to subscribe to it with iphone. Other models from softbank offer a flat packet plan as an option. It starts at about $10 and rises as the total date rate increases to max at about $45. In Japan customers make an original email address and use that to commuticate(other mobiles?PC/webmail.instead of SMS. MMS on softbank is an email that you can attach a photo or video to. And then send.Anyway blue plans are DoCoMo plans, and orange plans are AU KDDI.These are the #1 and #2 carriers in Japan. Softbank will let customers choose a competitors plan and undercut it by $2. Anyway. For the Iphone, About $73 a monthly fee to start, plus $8 a month for 24 months for a 8G phone. Special sim just for iphone. Chekck Softbank english website for press release.