The release date for the iPhone has been confirmed at 11 July, and Vodacom has opened up a pre-ordering page. Given the sheer volume of attention the iPhone has attracted, I think its safe to say that the iPhone is one of the most anticipated phones of the year - if not the decade (and by implication, the century).

No lies, it’s a pretty phone, and by all accounts, really powerful. At the US retail price of $199, I would be really tempted to go for one. But for most of us here in SA, that isn’t an option. We’ll have to wait for the Apple-Vodafone contract to bear fruit before we can satisfy the latest gadget craving.

But I do have a few questions about this. Now that the storm has died down and I’ve had time to think about it, I’m beginning to wonder if the iPhone in SA will really be such a hot deal after all.

Purchase Price

The US retail cost is $199. That means that Vodafone could realistically get the phone at bulk from Apple at maybe $140-$170 per phone, if not less. Add to that the discount gained when they purchase from US Dollar assets (instead of South African Rand assets), and you’d think we’d also get the phone at a decent price.

But there’s the Vodafone group markup, the Vodacom group markup, and the individual franchise markups to consider. Add to that the base import tax, electronic goods tax, luxury items tax and air, sea and land transport fees, and it starts getting hefty. And what with the interest rates and fuel prices on the rise, it can only push up the cost even more.

People who want to buy the phone cash will no doubt be the hardest hit, since Vodacom will be looking to make as much profit as possible from the sales of the phone before attracting negative attention from whatever regulatory commissions look after these things. Contract subscribers no doubt get a better deal, but it does lead to my next concern:

Vodafone branding

Vodafone is on a massive drive to proliferate their Vodafone Live! brand. So much so that most (if not all) of the phones that are distributed by Vodacom have had the Vodafone branding stamped on them - both on the case, and on the software.

Now, I personally don’t like their logo, but I could deal with it on the exterior of the iPhone. What I can’t deal with is having that same ugly logo stamped all over the menu panels. Imagine having the Browser replaced with a Vodafone Live! shortcut (which is what they’ve done with many phones so far), and having the standard battery, status and signal icons rewritten and dummified.

Now, Vodafone’s hacks are generally third-party in nature, which means they directly affect the performance of the phone (apart from being really unappealing visually). Example? My Sony Ericsson k750i. The pure, unbranded phone is a beast of a machine, but mine seems to have fallen out the wrong end of the gene pool. The camera is slow and blurry, the Java engine keeps malfunctioning, the GPRS signal drops without reason, and the entire phone crashes and restarts every so often. Stuff I’ve never seen with pure k750s, and which I will be shocked to see happen to the iPhone.

Will we have the sleek loading sequences devised by Apple, or a grainy, ugly “Yebo Gogo!” rolling across the screen? Never mind the aesthetics - that’s just plain embarrassing.

Accessories

Sweet, so we’re getting the iPhone. But what about the car, home, and USB chargers? Earphones, headphones, wired and Bluetooth headsets? Gloves, pockets, pouches, and other protective accessories?

I’m willing to bet the iPhone will arrive in a box with the phone, a USB charger (plus 2-prong adapter which I seriously hope is SA-compatible), a low-capacity memory card and a PC install disc (which’ll contain Vodafone crap of some kind, iTunes and maybe Safari).

But what about all the other gadgets that make a phone user-friendly? Does Body Glove have plans to ship iPhone pouches to SA? I don’t think sensible people will shell out R2000 for a phone, and then not spend a few hundred more to get it some decent protection.

Support

The iPhone’s not a God-breathed, divinely perfect device - it will eventually break. And when it does, who do we go to for support? I don’t imagine the local iStores will have much to do with the distribution of the iPhone. In any case, we’ll probably have to resort to Vodacom Customer Care, which has been apathetic to most at the best of times.

It’s hard enough finding support for the MacBooks of this nation - imagine how much more challenging the iPhone will be. Chances are more than likely that they’ll ship broken phones back to the USA, and there’ll be a 6-8 week waiting period before the phones are returned (and probably still broken). Or they’ll be replaced at a “nominal fee” *shudder*.

All in all, given these roadblocks and others, I’m guessing the iPhone will remain out of reach of most, at least for a while after the launch. Apple’s on a domination-slash-salvation drive with the iPhone 3G - they’re basically trying to get one in the hands of every man, woman and child worldwide. But that won’t stop South African business. Or bureaucracy.

Bottom line? I’ll stick to the phones I know, love and trust for now. When they’ve broken, complained about and repaired the iPhone distribution model, I might just give it a go. I’m tardy that way - how about you?