iPhone Hits Malaysia, A Little Too Late & Why It Would Fail.

iPhone Hits Malaysia, A Little Too Late & Why It Would Fail.

This post has been viewed 36366 times since Friday 13 March 2009 @ 10:35 am

Just received an SMS yesterday evening from my mobile service provider, Maxis, informing the launch of the official iPhone 3G in Malaysia.

Well, after about 2 years since its first launch in the US, the long-awaited iPhone has finally hit Malaysia… a little too late.

Last December, I wrote a post about the failure iPhone 3G suffered during its launch in India. Frankly, I would expect the same will happen in Malaysia.

Below are my top 8 reasons why official iPhone 3G would fail in Malaysia :-

• 1. The hype of iPhone is certainly over. What iPhone? It’s all about recession right now!
• 2. Many iPhone killer (mostly touchscreen mobile phones) are freely available with no string (the stupid subscription plan) attached.
• 3. One of iPhone rivals, Nokia XpressMusic 5800, is selling at less than half of the iPhone 3G’s price. Would you pay around RM3,000 for an iPhone 3G, while you can get a XpressMusic 5800 for only RM1,400?
• 4. Too costly, for a mobile phone with only 2MP camera, no MMS, lack of Bluetooth support, no Flash support, no cut&paste function, etc.
• 5. No unlimited data plan. The maximum data usage included is 3GB and you have no other choice to make it unlimited using their subscription plan.
• 6. Reading through the lengthy terms & conditions before signing up makes me dizzy. The killer is actually the last term saying “Other Terms and Conditions apply.“! o_O”
• 7. You can get unlocked smuggled iPhone 3G easily, at a much lower price. This is Malaysia, you know! You may then top it up with an unlimited data package for only RM120 RM99/month from the same provider (Maxis). LoL!
• 8. The real iPhone killer is launching soon! The price is about the same too.

I understand iPhone fans may not agree to any (if not all) of the reasons above. Anyway, tell me what do you think.