GSM Pre - France?

c_man · 10/06/2009, 07:38 PM

Any idea when the Pre will launch in France?

Though I am in the UK, by law, all phones in France have to be made available sim-free and unlocked - so worst case scenario = buy a Pre from France.

Germany will get it sim-free but they use QWERTZ keyboards

Any idea for the Pre launch in France?

c_man · 10/19/2009, 06:58 AM

No news is bad news...

spud101 · 10/19/2009, 07:58 AM

French Pres will most likely come with AZERTY keyboard!

c_man · 10/19/2009, 09:54 AM

...yeah, good one! Don't jinx it :P

Surely we must have some friendly Frenchmen/women across the channel who has some intel on the Pre's release... unless it's not been marketed/advertised over there too.

morgmel · 10/19/2009, 10:17 AM

spud is right. A French version is almost certain to come with an AZERTY layout - which has more differences than a QWERTZ

and don't count on an unlocked version being a good deal. Orange was asking for €999 for an unlocked iphone when they first launched!

lcapella · 10/19/2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by c_man

Any idea when the Pre will launch in France?

Though I am in the UK, by law, all phones in France have to be made available sim-free and unlocked - so worst case scenario = buy a Pre from France.

Germany will get it sim-free but they use QWERTZ keyboards

Any idea for the Pre launch in France?

A quote economic note:
It is precisely this law- that all phone must be made unlocked- that is the reason why France did not get a GSM Palm Pre.

One of the reasons Sprint in the US or O2 in Europe picked up the Pre (or why carriers pick up other "hot" phones) is market exclusivity. The Pre is a "hot" phone and is a reason for people to switch to their network. So it makes it more valuable to a carrier to engage in talks with Palm; they can offer Palm a better deal.

So Palm is more likely to do deals in these countries.

This option doesn't exist in France, which is why they get the "hot" phones later than in other markets.

Another example of a well intentioned law that has opposite results:
INTENTION: more phone are available to everyone
RESULT: less phone are available.

Customers in other countries have a choice: a locked Pre or no Pre.
Customers in France don't have the first choice.

c_man · 10/19/2009, 04:01 PM

Merci beaucoup for the info.

Wayenberg · 10/19/2009, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lcapella

One of the reasons Sprint in the US or O2 in Europe picked up the Pre (or why carriers pick up other "hot" phones) is market exclusivity. The Pre is a "hot" phone and is a reason for people to switch to their network. So it makes it more valuable to a carrier to engage in talks with Palm; they can offer Palm a better deal

Could be a good solution for launching a new model that gathers high hopes, not a brand new Os that needs a mass market: I don't understand Palm's staff politics.
This marketing trough exclusivities on careers is not effective and the sales will remain weak until those agreements end.
It gets worse when the carriers choosen are note leading their market.
Same error than the States for this launch: In Europe, Movistar is 4th and operating only in 4 countries, missing 2 (France and Italy) of the 4 Western Europe first markets

WebOs needs badly a viable ecosystem attractive to developpers to be credible, specially for business users, where the offer of WebOs softs is dramatically weak.

And for France, where I'm living in, the Pre will have lost lots of customers whose patience won't exceed a year after announcment...
And while it would land there this device will be too aged compared to the other releases.

Too bad