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Orange Availability in UK and mention of MMS |
smason5
Joined: Jan 25, 2002
Posts: 34
From: Scotland
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I've had a T68 on preorder from smalltalk.co.uk. They've just told me that Orange (here in the uk) have released the T68 for 179 pounds on their monthly tarrifs but are not releasing the phones to dealers who have already offered the phone for much less - they're being greedy basically. (Smalltalk had originally offered the phone for £80 but are now selling for £99 when they get any stock).
Orange.co.uk has finally been updated to show the phone and interestingly enough it actually mentions MMS in the specifications!
The only place I've seen a T68 spec sheet that mentions MMS is actually on the Ericsson website. Hmmm. I wonder what version of software is on the phone ? |
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ben82
Joined: Jan 31, 2002
Posts: 107
From: London, UK
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Hmm i wonder too! Orange retail had the phones on jan! They mentioned MMS capability, but i dont think thats possible yet! I think the next batch of T68 orange will be MMS, arriving end of feb! Initial batch of T68 channeled through orange retail had no MMS functionality! Therefore limited quanitities were distributed, to avoid many customers calling for MMS upgrades! Supply problems also meant that Orange PCS had few units to distribute in jan (6,000)
When the T68 is back in stock end feb/march, MMS should be included. Note that Orange has its own tailor made software with functional differences and it does not use generic software! |
smason5
Joined: Jan 25, 2002
Posts: 34
From: Scotland
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Yeah that's why Orange are so late ingetting phones onto their network (compared with BT Cellnet and Vodafone). Does anyone know what Orange actually do to the phones and why ?
I wondered if that's what was delaying the latest batch of phones - MMS. Apparently Orange retail are actually shipping as of this week (although their website says that they don't have stock).
Who knows. I'd actually go for the Nokia 7650 if it was here but by the time it's out on Orange it'll be 2003 I reckon ! |
ben82
Joined: Jan 31, 2002
Posts: 107
From: London, UK
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ORANGE PCS, test the manufacturer's version of the phone. Decide if they feel the phone will be sellable, apply for software improvements and then negotiate a deal with the manufacturer!
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ben82
Joined: Jan 31, 2002
Posts: 107
From: London, UK
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By the way, ORANGE retail dont ship phones! Orange PCS ships the phones and distributues then either to:
Retail channel ( CW)and/or
Distributional chanels (Hugh Symons Comms)
Dealer chanels (direct dealers, smalltalk.co.uk)
In some special cases, such as the 7110 and t68 phones, oreange pcs decides that there were excess demand for these phone prior to launch. They decided to supply their own retail shops to take advantage of price insensitive customers buying the phone at lauch! Once excess demand diminishes, orange will start providing units more equally to other chanels! |
adamrj
Joined: Jan 15, 2002
Posts: 155
From: NW London
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Quote:
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On 2002-02-06 17:15, ben82 wrote:
ORANGE PCS, test the manufacturer's version of the phone. Decide if they feel the phone will be sellable, apply for software improvements and then negotiate a deal with the manufacturer!
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Apparently not with the T68. It's virtually identical to the production one - all they've done is enabled line 2 and the Orange voice message options, and shoved a manky Orange wallpaper on it that looks like it was created by a 5 year old. Oh, and finally copied the handbook into an Orange format, omitting at least one table that's referred to in the text. Not impressed, particularly if this is the result of 3 months' work. |
ben82
Joined: Jan 31, 2002
Posts: 107
From: London, UK
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In the case of Orange retail, they have direct dealer priority whereby they are the first/only to stock certain models of phone! |
ben82
Joined: Jan 31, 2002
Posts: 107
From: London, UK
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Exactly Adam, they have tailor specified the phones features! Does your T68 have an orange wallpaper? NO!!
TAke care |
Batch_2002
Joined: Feb 06, 2002
Posts: 52
From: Basingstoke, UK
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I also spoke to smalltalk regarding price. The price on the website is a guide price only until the phone is released and delivered to them. Only when they have the phone will the actual price be known for certain!
The reason the pre-release price has increased is because from Feb 1st Orange changed the amount of comission given to resellers. Other on-line retailers seem to have followed suite.
Like the forums, my first post, aah... |
ben82
Joined: Jan 31, 2002
Posts: 107
From: London, UK
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That's rubbish! Orange dealers receive delivery of phones at a set price that is given to them at least 2 weeks before delivery. Network sold phone prices do not fluctuate in price for the dealer often. On averge, trade sim free prices for network branded phones change 2-3 times per year max! Smalltalk knows exactly how much the phone will cost them by that time. They are buying them in at £279 inc VAT.
It's the dealer commissions that set the connected retail price of the phone. During Feb, orange has reduces everyday 50 and talk 60 commissions by £20 and that is passed down to the customer in the form of higher connected phone price i.e £20 |
ben82
Joined: Jan 31, 2002
Posts: 107
From: London, UK
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BTW, all orange dealers have been affected by lowered commisons, not just smalltalk!
Phones on VODAFONE and BT CELLNET are given guide prices predelivery and prices for these fluctuate daily, like FOREX. Reason being that there are many sources dealers source the phones from, not from THE network. SO differnt sources charge delears differnt prices based on supply demand and intertemporal price descrimination.
Smalltalk know exactly how much they are buying the phones for!
[ This Message was edited by: ben82 on 2002-02-07 00:21 ] |
Batch_2002
Joined: Feb 06, 2002
Posts: 52
From: Basingstoke, UK
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Actually I didn't mean that the price Smalltalk pay for the phone was changing, but the price to the consumer is. If Orange change commission again before the phone is in stock (and I don't know the frequency they do this so it may be unlikly), surely the price may to the consumr may fluctuate.
Pre-ordering as far as I can tell is simply putting yourself in a queue for the phone at a rough price that is dependant on the current comission levels.
And yes all resellers are effected by the price rise. My fault for any missunderstanding, I wasn't clear but what I ment was other resellers have followed suite by already reflecting a rise in pre-order price due to the decreased comission.
[ This Message was edited by: Batch_2002 on 2002-02-07 09:53 ] |
Cheys_007
Joined: Jan 26, 2002
Posts: 49
From: Manchester, UK
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Adamrj:
I was told by a Carphone Warehouse fella that the reason for the delay with Orange and the newest phones is because they like to give it a thorough bug-test before releasing. Something about their support plan...
Personally I think he was talking out of his arse.
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ben82
Joined: Jan 31, 2002
Posts: 107
From: London, UK
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All networks, change their dealer commission rates, if any, to take effect at the first day of the new month. |
Marc Obermann
Joined: Feb 08, 2002
Posts: 5
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spoke to orange today as am awaiting my T68, they said there last delivery of T68 had german language so had to be sent back. new phones due in next two to three days.
am using T39 at present, why are bluetooth cards so much cheaper in the USA ? & why won't they sell to the UK |
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Posted: 2002-02-06 15:11
