Apple has quietly begun to sell unlocked 3G iPhones in Hong Kong. The 8GB goes for approximately $695, while the 16GB costs closer to $800. This isn’t the first country to sell unlocked iPhone 3Gs — Belgian law requires cell phone contracts to be uncoupled from handset sales — but this is the first time I’ve seen an actual dollar price quoted.
John Gruber wonders “Why only Hong Kong?”, speculating that a particularly entrenched and legitimized black electronics market might have prompted the decision. “Why not sell unlocked iPhone 3Gs at those prices everywhere?” For America, at least, I assume it is because Apple couldn’t have it both ways: it needed subsidized phones for mass penetration in a market where people are used to buying illusionary “cheap” phones tied to a contract, but that meant they had to sign an exclusive contract.
I know it’s not true, but I like the conspiracy theory of Apple selling the unlocked 3G iPhone in Hong Kong as a way of getting them to American consumers through the floodgates of HK Craigslist and eBay sales. With the iPhone being a five year exclusive to AT&T, and with no solution in sight for soft unlocking the 3G, it looks as if that’s still your best bet for getting an iPhone without signing a new contract.
A month ago, you could pick up unlocked 3G iPhones in Hong Kong for the same price from independent electronics stores. Actually, ever so slightly cheaper.