Does anyone know or have any idea when the Iphone 5s or 5c will be in Switzerland? I need a phone and I don't know if I should by the iphone 5 or wait for the 5s. Any advice?
there's one for sale here: [For sale: Gold iPhone 5s 1'998 CHFs [zurich]](http://www.englishforum.ch/jokes-funnies/188178-sale-gold-iphone-5s-1-998-chfs-zurich.html)
Why not just buy a cheapy android phone to tide you over until the release of 5S. To be honest to get it on the release date you'll either have to be in the first 50 of the traditional queue outside an Apple shop, or be extremely lucky, otherwise you'll be waiting at least couple of months for it after release.
Alternatively you could get yourself a decent android phone and forget about the iPhone. iOS and Androind look pretty much the same now anyway.
"Buy an android phone!!". Oh dear. Don't start all that shit again.
There's no release date for the new iPhones in Switzerland yet. If you need a phone, get the 5 now; probably cheaper from a non-Apple store (or Ricardo) as they'll stop being sold once the new models are released. If you don't need one straight away, just wait. Shouldn't be more than a few weeks.
Could be December. Apple's now launched it in Vietnam and Cambodia and still nothing in sight in Switzerland. I guess they're punishing us for the declining market share in CH.
You mean nip across and then wait a month? The delivery time is 2-4 weeks. The other problem is that they're not available unlocked in the stores - only online. In the shops, they only sell them with contracts.
I think the online prices are without contract, but in-store, they only have them with contract (at a lower price, I hope). Anyway, I'm in the UK right now and I've been to two Apple stores - there's no stock available for unlocked devices. Locked ones seem to be quite abundant.
I'm going up to Freiburg next week so will enquire. I've bought handsets (HTC and Samsung) from that store before and it was pretty painless, and they process the VAT in store so you get the full amount back.
Theoretically, the German customs guy grasses you up to the Swiss one as it's well over 300 CHF, so you get 19% German tax back and pay 8% Swiss tax.
The UK Apple stores (as far as I'm aware) use Global Blue so you'll get around 10% back at the airport as you leave. I'm thinking about buying a 5c, there's no supply issues with those.
I saw last Friday in Konstanz plenty of 5c at Vodafone or Tmobile. Even the Apple reseller in Lago had almost every color. At the Vodafone store in Lago the guy told me that he can order an Iphone 5s and have it next week but even without a contract the phone would be locked. He said that it is stupid but in Germany you can buy unlocked Iphones only at Apple store. Who in the world would pay the full price for a locked Iphone Anyway...it does not matter...since Friday evening I am the happy owner of a 5s
yeah, the 5C is available from the Apple Store, no problem there. I already have an iPhone 5 from work, so I don't need / want a 5C. I want the better camera (chip) of the 5S, though.
While this is generally a very good thing for the customer, it isn't great for Apple. The problem being that Apple's contracts with the providers have expired. Said contracts included heavily subsidized pricing buy demanded that the phones be sold locked. For example, the iPhone would sell for 199 Fr. on a 2-year contract with Swisscom. Now, the iPhone's treated like any other phone and will be extremely expensive even with a contract. Youngsters and dads buying phones for the latter won't be thrilled to shed over 500 bucks for a phone with a contract. That in turn is likely to translate into lower sales figures and is more than likely the reason why Vietnam got the new phones before Switzerland this year. Switzerland is, as far as I know, the only place on earth where the providers directly sell unlocked phones. I'm guessing because they were late to the iPhone game in the first place and got shorter contracts out of Apple.
I do not think it affects Apple...the providers buy the Iphones from Apple and the price is the same whether locked or unlocked. I could be wrong but from what I have been reading the reason for locked phones is that the providers do not want you to switch to another carrier. This is dumb...I have never stayed with a provider because I have a phone locked to their network. If I have a sunrise iphone but want to use swisscom...I would sell the sunrise iphone and buy a swisscom iphone...easy. Now it is not the case anymore. A contract from any provider is meant to bring profit that is to cover the price of the phone and to bring money. I do not think that it is good or bad or it has to do with contracts with apple...it is just a change in strategy. Swisscom started it and Orange and Sunrise had to follow.
Also, Switzerland is not the only place selling unlocked iphones.
One more thing...I would rather pay more for an Iphone than paying more for roaming and the pain of having two phones around when abroad. And it is much easier to sell an unlocked Iphone
where else do they sell unlocked phones directly from the provider?
Apple doesn't get less per phone but Swisscom won't sell the same number of phones if they cost 2-3 times as much as last year. And that is going to have an impact on Apple as well.
The greek provider Cosmote sells unlocked iphones and they do not even lock the iphones for any plans...
This is actually one of the dumbest things I have seen...paying the full price for an iphone but still locked like in Germany. Maybe it is still the providers trying to keep you on their network...