I have heard that Best Buy will begin selling the iPhone 3G in Canada beginning October 1st. Right now, this is just a rumor and nothing has been confirmed.
So far there is one standalone Best Buy Mobile store in Canada. More are on the way. In the States, Best Buy Mobile is a glorified name for the cell phone section. They have been selling it in the States now for a few weeks. I haven’t been to a Best Buy store lately so I don’t know if there are “Best Buy Mobile” signs up in the store.
With the iPhone plans changing on October 1st it makes it easier to sell the iPhone 3G outside of the realm of Rogers and Fido. The new plans are straightforward with little options. There is no point in choosing one plan and adding a separate data package to it. The data packages change October 1st and well so there would be no point to pick one plan and add one of the data packages because the data packages aren’t that good. Unless you have some great plan you don’t want to give up, but then you will probably be dealing directly with Rogers or Fido anyway. I guess you could still go without a data plan as well. With little options to choose from, it makes it easier for a general salesman to sell.
Here’s what I think. I already have an iPhone so I don’t care if Best Buy sells it or not. If Best Buy sells it, does that mean Future Shop will too? I think they should both start carrying a wider range of accessories. Right now it is pretty easy to get an iPhone. There are tons of Rogers and Fido stores all around and then there is the order by phone or internet. Access to them isn’t the problem, at least not anymore. Having Best Buy sell them won’t initiate a second rush of sales.
I see people who are not totally familiar with the iPhone 3G seeing it at Best Buy and gaining interest in it. Not everyone keeps up with the latest gadget and mobile news on the internet everyday. Also, most people don’t go browsing in Rogers and Fido stores when they are at the mall. This means that there could be some people out there who haven’t even heard of the iPhone 3G yet. There are probably some of these people, but not a lot.
What could possibly happen (but likely won’t) would be that Best Buy could cut the price on it. Future Shop cut the price of the N95 to $99 or something like that when it was $200 or so everywhere else. They are a big company and could probably offer some other incentives if you buy from them. There could be a positive side to them selling it. I still see it being unlikely that they offering anything like this however because of the tight restrictions of the 3G so far.
On BestBuy.com, search for iPhone and you get this:
On BestBuy.ca, search for iPhone and you get this:
Subscribe to our RSS feed so you don't miss any updates. You can also subscribe by email.
Make sure you enter our latest Contests!
Loading ...
September 25th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
im pretty sure best buy in canada wont have the iphone .
1st they are not autorized Rogers reseller ( The official reseller is thesource by circuit city
2nd Even us at The Source by Circuit City doesnt have the iphone yet so why would best buy do?
the only way best buy could have the iphone is with fido but as all of you know…. Rogers own Fido so again im pretty sur best buy wont have it
September 25th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I’ll pretty much guarantee Best Buy Mobile will be carrying it. Same prices ($199, $299) Rogers/Fido as of Oct. 1, like he said.
They will, more than likely, make the official announcement tomorrow morning.
September 25th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
@ Maxime
Best Buy and Future Shop ARE authorized resellers. The source is not the only one. Also telephone booth ( also known as Wireless ect), walmart, and any store that sells rogers phones ARE authorized resellers.
September 25th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
There’s already a gazillion Fido/Rogers stores selling the iPhone, plus Wireless Wave locations. Even if BB and FS carry the iPhone, it’ll let more people access the phone. Now, if Apple comes up with the in home activation, as rumored then I can see how this model would work.
September 26th, 2008 at 4:21 am
@Momin
My bad we dont use the same system so i didnt saw future shop and best buy on the list dealer list.
well i guess they might be having
September 26th, 2008 at 11:06 am
iPhone will be available at select Future Shop locations, starting october 1st :)
September 26th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I dont care about this.I just wanna unlocked version iphone if i need a second iphone.
just heard hongkong is gonna sell unlocked version iphone at only $639 for 8G and $716 for 16G !!!! damn,,!!!
September 29th, 2008 at 3:03 am
no longer a rumour
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2008/26/c8546.html
October 1st, 2008 at 11:54 am
@Momin
Because they sell the product, it does not make them authorized resellers. They could be authorized distributors, noted resellers.
One thing that I did find odd, was how apple stated they would not be selling the iPhone in their Apple Stores. Well I was in Edmonton Alberta this weekend and they are selling them in an Official Apple Store there, as well as the one that just opened in the Calgary location on the weekend as well.
It was somewhat odd. But who knows. Maybe some of the stores still decided to do it. The wierdest part, was I did not see a Rogers or Fido location within these two stores that are selling our wonderous little devices.