iPhones Coming to Canada, but It’ll Cost You

According to Betanews :

Apple is planning to begin selling its Apple iPhone through Rogers Wireless in Canada by mid-October, technology news site Digital Journal reported this week. The site said a source from within Canadian luxury retailer Holt Renfew said it would be receiving the phone within two weeks, and it would retail in the country for $799.

Did they say $799? Uh, the Loonie is strong, but not that strong. I think I will plan on a trip to the Apple Store in Bellingham or Seattle to pick one up. I can’t imagine them giving us the same trouble as Canadians have had trying to buy cars in the US. An agreement with Canadian Car Dealers make it impossible to do so, delivering as much as 30% more profit straight into the hands of the car makers, leading to a 2 Billion$ Class-Action Lawsuit on the part of Canadian consumers. If that’s no good, and they find some way of stopping us at the border, even buying online from the Apple Store and paying the duty and import taxes here would be cheaper.

I expect that the only iPhone buyers actually purchasing it from Holt Renfrew will be the American Film Actors staying in Vancouver while they shoot whatever movie they are in.

At any rate, this confirms a similar rumor that I had heard earlier in the week. Geeks across Canada are ready to heave a sigh of relief.

An Update from Digital Journal:

 We have received word from Mario Manza, Executive Director of VIP Services at Holt Renfrew, that they will not be carrying the iPhone for now. He said he confirmed this information with the buyers this morning and apologized for any misinformation on behalf of the company.

It sure is a weird scenario: Yesterday we placed cold calls to their accessories department and they were telling everyone the iPhone would be there in two weeks. They were even going so far as taking down phone numbers of people who called, informing them they will call back when it arrives in two weeks. They even quoted the exact price of $799.

Yesterday we also received a panic-sounding call from Holt Renfrew’s PR team saying this deal was not confirmed “yet” — “yet” being the operative word.

If you call today, however, the same employees are now saying they are no longer getting the iPhone anytime soon. Digital Journal’s insiders are now saying the same thing.

As we mentioned, and as most people agreed, Holt Renfrew sounded like a very unlikely place for the iPhone to be launched in Canada. But the retailer does carry expensive Nokia, D&G and Prada phones, and they have carried iPods in the past.

So rumour is quashed, for now (according to Mario Manza). Holt Renfrew insiders still say Rogers will have it in January but they say it’s not clear why a potential Holt Renfrew deal fell through. We’ll see if we can get more information on that.

We’ll keep you posted if we learn anything new.

This is approaching the level of hysteria. You’d think someone had leaked that marijuana was going to be legal in Canada.

Oh, it already is. My mistake.