iPhone 3G S unlocked prices in Italy: 16 GB for $860, 32 GB for $998

When people in America started complaining about the price of the iPhone 3G S and how existing customers would have to pay up to $500 to get the new model, I resisted the urge to forcefully accelerate the palm (NSDQ: PALM) of my hand at a 45 degree angle and make contact with my forehead. People just don’t understand what these things really cost. The high end capacitive screens, the gigabytes of memory, GPS chips, compass, it’s madness that you can get an iPhone for $200 on a 2 year contract. In the UK you’ll probably get the iPhone for free with a 2 year contract. For Europe however, and I don’t count the UK as a part of Europe, we buy devices unlocked.

Some countries, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Italy, France and Hong Kong, have laws against selling locked devices. A majority of the unlocked iPhones that I see here in Finland are purchased while on holiday in Italy or from some website that buys them in bulk and then sells them at a €100 markup. In Italy you’re going to be able to buy an iPhone 3G S, the 16 GB model, for €619. The 32 GB model will cost you €719. I’m not going to bother retyping that that is in United States Dollars, because that urge to hurt myself may turn into a violent assault on a foreign exchange student who just got off the bus and complains about the weather and asks why the sun doesn’t go all the way down. Enjoy your cheap iPhones, I’ll just keep on pounding back liters of awesome beer, sleeping with tall supermodels, and cut class at a University that doesn’t cost anything to attend.

[Via: HD Blog, Unwired View]