Yeah, I heard what Steve Jobs said - I've watched every Apple Keynote for the last five years, and, as much as I love Apple, I can tell you this much - they aren't perfect
It wouldn't surprise me if it ends up being less than $199 in every country, but maybe only on the biggest contracts. Of course, it wouldn't surprise me if it ended up being higher either
Furthermore, even looking at legitimate costs (ie, selling it at a fair price in SA) the SA market is smaller, and more difficult to deal with (in some ways) than the US market - hence the higher pricing.
RE the whole "On contract, not on contract thing". Although it wasn't forced on you, the implication with the original iPhone was that it was $399, and you could use it either:
A) on an AT&T contract
B) on an AT&T Pay as you go sim
C) as a paperweight.
Now, for options A) and C) it's half the price and has the same constraints (on a practical level), option B) has fallen away, so what Stevo said was correct. Option D) (I'm a leet hacksaw and I'm cracking my phone, which is my personal fav
) was never an Apple sanctioned option.
One more interesting thing - was talking to my brother, his cancellation fee for his AT&T contract is $175.... now, I'm not sure if you get to keep the phone or don't, but if you can, that would mean cash price in the US is less than $400, which I'm super happy with
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