Telefonica Czech to halt all iPhone sales
updated 12:15 pm EDT, Wed November 2, 2011
High subsidy costs blamed
The Czech branch of international carrier Telefonica will not support the iPhone 4S, and is in fact dropping all earlier iPhones as well, according to local news outlet Hospodarske Noviny, quoting Telefonica spokesman Hany Farghali. The company blames Apple business terms; in particular, it is believed to have problems with the carrier subsidies demanded by Apple. In the US, for example, Sprint is known to be paying Apple about $200 more per device than the industry average.
Telefonica's withdrawal may not have much impact on iPhone sales as a whole, or even those in the Czech Republic. The iPhone 4S is already available in the country through two other international carriers, Vodafone and T-Mobile. Apple is in the process of rolling out the phone to dozens of additional countries before the end of the year; on November 11th another 13 regions will get the product, including the likes of Poland, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
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and...
you all wonder why ATT and Verizon and the rest are sticklers on their contract lengths or the like.