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View Full Version : Love those Canadians !!



Rich Konopka
07-05-2008, 6:06 PM
I am a really big fan of Canada and have visited as an American several times over the past several years. I fact, I just got back from Banff/Calgary last Sunday. It ceases to amaze me the pride Canadians have in their country and also they stand up for their rights (IMHO more than Americans) and here is proof of the latest example. After a year of waiting Candians will finally be able to get their hands on the iPhone. And it looks like Rogers ( Canadian version of ATT) is jacking the rates for future iPhone buyers.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080702.wriphone03/BNStory/Technology

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=0def1ab0-a015-4125-8015-b57b21c1c823


However, it looks like they may have pushed the pricing to far. There appears to be a revolt in the making.

I can't say that I blame them.

Chuck Wintle
07-06-2008, 7:08 AM
Rich,
For whatever reason Canadians pay more for most consumer items. Cars, for example, cost more in Canada even though some of the models are manufactured right here. So I am not surprised that Rogers has chosen to "premium price" the iphone.

Rich Konopka
07-06-2008, 7:55 AM
Charles,

I know one thing which is now cheaper in Canada. Gasoline was 1.12 liter in Calgary last weekend which is the equivilant of 4.48 gallon. It is over 4.50 a gallon in many parts of CT.

So are there any Canadians picking up the iPhone this week?

Chuck Wintle
07-06-2008, 8:21 AM
Charles,

So are there any Canadians picking up the iPhone this week?
Probably many will pick it up in spite of the price.

Art Mulder
07-06-2008, 7:21 PM
Rich,
For whatever reason Canadians pay more for most consumer items. Cars, for example, cost more in Canada even though some of the models are manufactured right here. So I am not surprised that Rogers has chosen to "premium price" the iphone.

This is regularly in the news the past few months, because the Canadian dollar hitting parity with the US dollar really drove home this fact. So some folks are starting to cross the border to buy a car and then import it. Even with paying duty and having to change the speedometer (to metric) they are winning.

In fact there have been news stories about certain corporations telling their sales forces that they are NOT allowed to sell to Canadians, since they're afraid of hurting their sales in Canada.

About three years ago I was in the US on business, and at the same time Amazon was having one of their sales on the Hitachi M12V router (older style) which I got for $159, no tax, free delivery to my friend in Michigan. This same router was still being sold at $250-300 in the store back home in Canada.

It isn't true for everything, just for some things. And it's regional. Back in '99 I was in upstate Mass. on vacation (near Hancock Shaker Village) and we noticed that prices in the store were about the same as prices back home in Ontario. However, thanks to the exchange rate at the time, this meant that most things were about 20% MORE expensive in that US grocery store.

And I've rambled long enough. I hope this revolt on the iPhone works, as it's a crock what Rogers is charging. More than that, though I hope some new companies come in and set up some competing services -- right now Rogers is the only company in Canada that can support the iPhone, as the other carriers use different transmission technology.

Ben Rafael
07-06-2008, 8:26 PM
Is the price being jacked by Rogers or by Canadian taxes and regulations?
AT&T is the only way to use the iphone in the USA and I am paying the same for service as I was with my other phones. The phone cost me more, but it does a darn lot more than the phones I got for free. Frankly it has paid for itself in the time it has saved me.

Art Mulder
07-07-2008, 7:58 PM
Is the price being jacked by Rogers or by Canadian taxes and regulations?
Rogers.

The gov't is actually on the side of the consumer when it comes to cellphones in Canada ... they determined that there was insufficient competition in the market and in the latest spectrum auction (so I've heard) they actually gave first crack to companies that were NOT one of the 3(?) established cellphone companies.