Well! Rumour has it that all that angst about Rogers’ iPhone tariffs has provoked a response — from Apple!
Blogger Daniel Smith claims multiple sources, including a senior Rogers representative, claim that Apple has diverted a significant amount of its initial iPhone 3G Canadian deliveries to Europe in retribution for the carrier’s steep rate plans, which at similar prices offer a third fewer minutes and limited data compared to AT&T.
Stores may be getting just 10 to 20 iPhones each and are being told to “exercise caution” not to promise ample stock on launch day, according to the rumors.
At the same time, Rogers is also claimed to be promptly firing the part-time staff that had been hired to handle an expected deluge of customers at some stores…
The interesting thing is that now that this story has hit all the MSM outlets, there’s going to be an awful lot of attention on release day on what if any the sales effect is. Sure, the geeks will whine to other geeks, and maybe 43,321 (and counting) of them will sign some whiny petition, but will there be any actual consequences to Rogers? ‘Cos bad PR, well, they’re used to that since their corporate motto is oderint dum metuant as far as anyone can tell, but actually impacting their sales, now that would be serious.
We recommend the best thing to do at this point is suck in your natural desire to get an iPhone 3G NOW! NOW! NOW! this Friday and hold off for at least a few days whilst watching the news to see how those 43,340 (and counting) petition signers react. If they’re all serious enough about their whining to actually boycott, and if Rogers is left with egg on its face from a botched launch, there *will* be plan adjustments there is no doubt. And if it sells out and there’s lineups anyway … well, you’ll have got a lesson in just how easy and pointless the online faux activism of those 43,366 (my, they do count up quickly, don’t they!) signers is, won’t you?
h/t: MacSurfer!
