MONTREAL -- The hip, fashionable and much-anticipated iPhone is finally on its way to Canadian consumers, who will likely have to dig deep into their pockets to pay for the high-end smartphone.
Telecom giant Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B) announced Tuesday it will be the exclusive carrier to bring Apple Inc.'s iPhone to Canada later this year.
Canada's iPhone launch is expected this summer.
There's no word yet on pricing for the iPhone, which has a touchscreen keypad and allows users to play music, watch movies, surf the Internet and manage personal information.
But it's expected to be pricey for consumers, say analysts.
"This will go to someone who doesn't blink at paying $100 per month or more in subscription fees for both voice and data," said analyst Carmi Levy.
"It's absolutely a high-end product targeted at a high-end consumer and at a high-end, style-conscious consumer, which has been AT&T's experience in the U.S.," said Levy of Toronto's AR Communications Inc.
The iPhone went on sale 10 months ago in the United States through an exclusive agreement with carrier AT&T. It also has been for sale for several months in Europe.
Canadians who have bought iPhones in the last 10 months have had to get them cracked -- or unlocked -- to get them to work on domestic carriers.
In the United States, an eight-gigabyte model goes for US$399 and a 16-gigabyte model sells for US$499. Data plans start at US$59.99 and consumers must sign a two-year service agreement with AT&T.
"This is for somebody who already either has a smartphone and wants a better experience or wants to take a whole lot of multimedia movies and music with them on the road and isn't happy with the kind of device that has been available up until now," Levy said.
Rogers and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) provided few details about Tuesday's announcement. Iain Grant, a Montreal-based telecommunications analyst, predicted Canada's iPhone launch will come in June or July.
He believes Canadians have already imported more than 80,000 iPhones across the border from the U.S.
Grant said Rogers' main challenge will be dealing with the high cost of data transmission. Current iPhone users pay $1,800 monthly for unlimited data access in Canada. The same service on state-of-the-art U.S. networks costs as little as $25 per month.
Apple is forecasting that it will sell 10 million iPhones worldwide by the end of this year and Rogers currently has the only GSM networks capable of handling Apple's first phone in Canada.
Apple is working to create the next generation of applications for the iPhone, which could be why the phone's introduction to Canada will be delayed until later this year.
The iPhone's upcoming Canadian debut will also challenge Research in Motion's (TSX:RIM) BlackBerry, bringing new competition for consumers' hearts and wallets.
UBS analyst Jeffrey Fan said there's plenty of opportunity for both.
-- The Canadian Press, with staff files
Surf, view, gab...
What the heck is an iPhone? For non-techno geeks who aren't counting down the days until its pending launch in Canada, here's the Coles Notes version of the most anticipated advance in mobile technology since the last one.
It's a phone that also enables you to surf the Internet with the same speed as if you were sitting at your desktop, play music and take pictures.
It offers text messaging and "visual voicemail" in which voice mail messages are transcribed to text. Messages can be accessed in any order you want, not chronologically as is now the case with most other devices.
Its cellular functions are intertwined so if you're playing a song when a call comes through, the music will fade out. When you hang up, the music will fade back in.
iPhones play video, meaning you can watch television or movies in the palm of your hand.
The 3.5-inch liquid crystal display touchscreen enables you to use your fingers to interface with iPhone features. No little plastic pen is required but in the winter, you've got to take your gloves off.
The battery is capable of providing up to seven hours of video, six hours of web browsing, eight hours of talk time or 24 hours of playing music.
PREVIOUS
