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Smart finally catches up, to offer iPhone 4S to subs

Back in September 2010, I wrote about Smart’s bid to carry the iPhone 4 in the Philippines. The commitment price then was allegedly in the 6-billion peso range {read story here}. That did not pan out but Smart continues to talk to Apple regarding their internet-enabled iDevices.

I’ve chatted with several Smart execs about this before and though they say that they’re continuously talking to Apple, they would not comment on the iPhone itself. Turns out the big PLDT man himself has spilled the beans (my guess is that this was prematurely announced).

Yugatech 728x90 Reno7 Series

A report from Inquirer.net quoted Manny V. Pangilinan confirming that Smart will carry the iPhone 4S by December.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman of Smart’s parent firm Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., confirmed that Smart was in talks with Apple to launch the latest version of the iPhone—iPhone4S—before yearend.

“We’re working on the iPhone4 first because there’s a lot of demand for it,” he said.

The iPhone 4S will be offered to the high-end subscribers of Smart so we’re looking at Plan UnliData 4000 or All-In Plan 3500 (probably with some cash out).

For more than 3 years, Globe has captured the iPhone market in the Philippines, leaving Smart no choice but to pick Windows Phone 7 and Android devices as their flagship handsets (Smart has a strong partnership with HTC to bringing premium Android handsets in the country). They also banked on their Netphone strategy but that’s mostly Android as well.

It will be interesting how Smart will position the iPhone 4S to its subscribers and how this affect its partnership with HTC. More importantly, we’re all interested how much the iPhone 4S be priced once it lands on their lap.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

53 Responses

  1. Avatar for mike mike says:

    Nakabili na ako ng iPhone 4S sa Gadget City. Sa may pasay.

    Openline at original talaga. Ito number nila 092972*****

  2. Avatar for mark mark says:

    Will globe still issue Iphone 4s to its subscribers?

  3. Avatar for neal neal says:

    pagpostpaid po ba sainyo na ung cp after the contract or ibabalik po ulit un? im confused po kasi. i dont know anything about postpaid. help naman po/

  4. Avatar for PJ PJ says:

    hi abe,

    have you read today’s Biz Buzz in the Inquirer?

    they say that Apple is disappointed with premature announcement of Smart on their offering of the iPhone4S.

    http://business.inquirer.net/30259/biz-buzz-craving-for-sweets

    “Speaking of which…
    Regional Apple officials were reportedly peeved by MVP’s announcement of Smart’s impending tie-up with the Silicon Valley giant for the distribution of the new iPhone 4S in the Philippines. The telecom executive made the revelation last week much to the chagrin of Apple officials known for their strict publicity guidelines.
    Rival Globe Telecom—which is so far Apple’s exclusive carrier for its iPhone 4 and iPad 2—has so far kept mum about MVP’s announcement about the Ayala-controlled telco’s impending loss of exclusivity for distributing the popular device (although one can surely expect a “retaliatory” move, given the rising level of competition in the industry).
    Word in IT circles now is that Apple officials are debating how to handle the premature revelation about negotiations to offer the iPhone through Smart’s network.
    “If you want to play with Apple, you play by its rules,” one industry official said. “Otherwise, it’s a ‘no go.’” Uh oh.—Daxim L. Lucas

  5. Avatar for Ernie Ernie says:

    Too bad I have contract with Globe for two years which is awful. Their cust serv sucks and service as well very unreliable I am hoping that Smart will have a promo just like in the US wherein they will cover the termination fee and just add the remaining mos/yrs to their contract bec if they will do that I will be the first in line.

  6. Avatar for arnold arnold says:

    I hope we don’t get caught between a rock and a hard place. :)

    I’ll reserve judgement after the official announcement is made and Smart post paid plans are in place.

  7. Avatar for Jepoiski Jepoiski says:

    Finally! We will now have choices!

  8. Avatar for What What'sthediff says:

    iPhone 4S unlocked: $649USD.
    How much will we get screwed here?

  9. Avatar for Mike Mike says:

    Globe has good reputation than Smart.

    • Avatar for Kyle Kyle says:

      Nah. Smart’s better. Totally better, especially when it comes to postpaid. Only yuppies and idiots use Globe postpaid. The only thing that’s good from Globe is their corporate and business offerings. But for consumers, totally shit.

      Then again, I can tell that you like Globe because of your… uhh… inability to express yourself. Read your bloody sentence again pl0x.

    • Avatar for Mike Mike says:

      Globe is #1 in postpaid since day 1 because they concentrated on that while Smart concentrated on prepaid service. As a result, majority of high end subscribers like celebrities, politicians, executives, business people, middle class families are using globe and this was the main reason why Apple selected Globe over Smart from the start since they can afford the iphone. On the other hand, Smart subscribers are mostly coming from the provinces & far flung areas of the country.

  10. Avatar for jayb jayb says:

    Globe parin . .

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