According to wild rumors (and we do mean wild), Canadian "luxury retailer" Holt Renfrew -- the Barney's of the Great White North -- will begin carrying a Canuck version of the beloved
iPhone in about two weeks, for the deliciously low price of $799. The rumor apparently emanates from an "insider source" at the company, though the store's reps won't confirm the news. If you believe the leaker, the retailer will carry an 8GB, GSM version of the phone (obviously, as no other version exists), and it will arrive on store shelves in mid-October. Sure, this sounds enticing, but why would a department store which specializes in high-end goods be the first the carry the iPhone, and where is the announcement (or even rumblings of an announcement) from a carrier in Canada? All intriguing questions which we'll be sussing out answers to... by force. Just kidding.
Update: One of our readers
claims to have been contacted by Holt Renfrew in regards to the iPhone rumors, and here is what they supposedly had to say: "Thank you for your inquiry of the Apple I Phone. I regret that the I Phone, originally planned for our store this fall will no longer be available at Holt Renfrew. In fact, due to other obstacles, the phone will not be here any earlier than January 2008." Of course, we're not buying that Holt Refrew's rep doesn't know how to spell "I Phone," but that's just us.
[Thanks, sculley]
posted Oct 4th 2007 11:14AM
Aw Yes! Holt Renfrew I Love their products!!! ;)... Who the hell is Holt Renfrew?
Really upscale store. Sells (mostly clothes) from like LV, Couture, Lacoste, Burberry, Chanel etc etc
i suppose apple hate canadians as much as i do
@mikey
at least the rest of the world likes us, and it hates *you* and your government :)
@mikeymouse : I guess he doesn't even know where is Canada! The majority of American are quite nice to Canadian but sometimes there is some sick parano capable of using a computer.
799$!!! and what is the point of selling it in Canada when there is no carrier interested in it.
They have only 11 stores in Canada. I have heard their name but thought they were a Hotel.
Jesus... $800???
Gives whole new definition to "ZOMG iPhone ripoff!"
Why does Canada get screwed so bad with prices... It's not like shipping to Canada is difficult.
mikey...
I don't know about where you come from, and I'm not one to go around making assumptions, but you said was hateful, ignorant and wrong. Its people like you that makes people all over the world think that Americans brought terrorism like 9/11 upon themselves. So keep it up. As we all know, you'll get yours and there's nothing your cowardly military or police can do about it. You should also no that not all Canadians are as me. In fact many wouldn't have let you finish that sentence without knocking your under-educated (American standard)head off. Give three good reasons to hate Canada, or get off the internet and never open your stupid mouth again.
To all other readers, dismiss this entire conversation. Its talk like this that promotes the divide conquer acting in global society to keep you scared of 'other' and keep you spending and supporting stupid wars.
Love.
I understand that the same item is going to cost more in Canada, but like the Loonie is trading $1.00141. So that would mean that this phone would cost me $800.01 US... last time I checked it was $399 US which is about $398.45 Canadian.
Obviously this is a rumor and I doubt the phone is going to be 800 dollars. $500 maybe, but not $800.
no way this is happening. I bet its the Prada or other phone. Rogers is the only carrier here that it would work with.. UNLESS Holt Renforth is selling the AT&T version for people to subscribe to a US plan??!
$799? With the US and Canadian dollars virtually equal, how could they possibly justify that price?
It's being sold at Holt Renfrew, that's how. Their posh clientèle would be insulted if they only had to spend a measly $399.
I went into Holt 2 weeks ago. I walked into the LV department and was looking at their wallets. One which carried 3 credit cards and a clear part for your drivers license is $300CDN. So really for that store, $800CDN iPhone is chump change...
Vince, not to get too far off topic or defend ridiculous brand-names and luxury goods, but those LV (and I've heard Hermes are even better) wallets will last 10 times as long as cheap mass-manufacturered $30 ones... my wife has one that's almost 20 years old and it's still in perfect condition after constant heavy use.
Hey, if they're from Holt's maybe the back of the iPhone is gold-plated with an apple-shaped diamond embedding. Still though, not worth $800 NZD, nevermind CAD or USD.
@cc
Sure, those wallets might last for 30+ years, but would Holt's customers even consider using the wallet after next season's styles have been released? Perhaps, just don't pull it out in front of anyone that will notice your apparent poverty, being too poor to buy the newest design.
are you asking me engadget?
:\
one question: is it unlocked?
all signs point to no, meaning it's implausable that this will happen, due to the fact that no canadian in their right might is "aboot" to walk into a dept. store and pick up an $800 (usd or can, cause it acctually matters now) phone they can't even use without an ungodly high roaming cost...
this will happen the same day the titanic rises from the deep and sails into new york harbor (too soon?)
Didn't one of the Ghostbusters movies have that actually happen?
This is about as pie-in-the-sky as rumours get.
I can't see how or why Holt Renfrew would get the iPhone before Apple or Rogers would be carrying the phone in Canada, unless they've got some kind of back-room deal where Apple is letting them sell unlocked phones. Again, highly unlikely.
Holt Renfrew is a high-end fashion store. They have no experience selling consumer electronics at all. My guess is that their buyers are mistaking the LG Prada or Samsung Armani phone with the iPhone, or are just blindly calling all three "iPhones".
Actually, Holt Renfrew *does* sell a bunch of random high end electronics. Plasma TVs, Bang & Olufsen home phones, and even a few (ridiculous, high end, platinum & gold plated) cell phones. The iPhone is a bit low end for Holt, really, despite the rumoured $800 price tag.
If this is the case it would be a defenite first for Holt Renfrew. Holts is not known for carrying electronics devices - not even beauty or fashion electronics.
I'm going out for lunch today so I could consult with a sales manager, but I doubt they'd be loose-lipped about such an item.
If Holts is going to indeed sell the iPhone there would have to be some as of yet unknown designer spin added to it to boost the price to $800. Otherwise, lulz no.
I seriously doubt the credibility of this rumour, particularly because of the price point. It's worth nothing that Holt Renfrew has sold fashion-oriented Nokia phones in the past.
The iPhone will be released when the Montreal Apple Store opens later this year. Likely early December.
adding to my own comment... Now that Bell offers an unlimited email and internet card for laptops perhaps Rogers will finally be forced create a better data plan which could then pave the way for a decent iPhone plan.
Joshua C.: Ah! Ah! Montreal Apple Store in December!!
The local will be available in November. The new store will not open until next summer. Probably late in the summer.
But yes, it is at that time that we will get the iPhone. And it is a good thing. Will probably be the version 2 iPhone. With, I hope, a gps and many more feature.
Holt Renfrew sucks the bag! I once walked through their flagship store on Bloor St. here in Toronto four years ago. I noticed a pair of brown corduroys pants, on sale...for $300. It was the biggest laugh i had in quite some time.
If you hang out there at lunch time you can perv at the Wanna-be Paris Hilton chicks in their Empress Dresses and Big Rimmed Sunglasses!! ha ha!
Why would Apple want to make it worse in Canada by releasing their shitty, overrated piece of crap?
Could this be a SIM-free (i.e. no operator tie) version? At a suitably-massive premium?
$799 LOL Don't worry after 2 months the will drop it to $399. I don't think Steve is to fond of Canadians so he is really going to stick it to you for 2 months till the price drop. Then he will offer you a $50 credit to his store. LOL
Why the hell would it be 800$ if out dollar is higher than the american dollar?
our**
because exchange rates and pricing policies are completely different. The exchange rate is something that is primarily used by banks and the like to broker transactions with different currencies. Companies however are still selling to canada like it's 1995 and laughing all the way to the bank.
By the time the iPhone is released in Canada the Canadian dollar will be worth $1.30 or more US. The US dollar is far from its low point yet and is fast becoming the world's most irrelevant currency.
There's an Apple Store just minutes away from the three Holt's locations I know of. An Apple Store in the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto just down Yonge Street from Holt's on Bloor. An Apple Store in Yorkdale Shopping Centre just down a hallway and around the corner from the Holt's, and yet another one in Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre.
It doesn't really make any sense for them to be carrying the iPhone. The Prada or Armani phones perhaps, yes.
Given the absolutely garbage service plans from Rogers, an iPhone at $100 would still kill the pocket book in the long run. There are already a few thousand iPhones being used locally with and without data plans - unlocked of course.
$799!? for heavens sake canadian dollar > us dollar (1 CND = 1.0021 USD)! reduce the prices!
I'm from the US, but I agree that the cost of the iPhone should be cheaper in Canada. But based on the exchange rate, only by a drop of $.84 from the current US price. So $399.15. Big whoop.
No dice.
firstly, why the hell would i pay $800 for a phone i can drive an hour to get for $400.
Second, Holts doesn't even have the Prada phone, they wouldn't carry Apple first.
Third, Rogers is the only carrier that the phone would work with. They would have to supply it in store first.
Fourth, I hope that even Holt's customers aren't stupid enough to spend $800 on a &400 phone.
If this were true at least it would be a step in the right direction - Apple bringing the phone to Canada so that i dont have to hack it and i can have full functionality.
Actually Holt's customers are dumb enough to spend $800 on a phone. You don't get to trophy wife status by using your brains.
This is the dumbest rumor ever. As if apple would sell the iPhone at holts instead of at the apple store.....come on.
Get smarter people, read, think.
Well, first - there are almost no Apple Stores in Canada. There are four and three of them are in Toronto, one in Laval. That's like having four in the entire US, three of which are in New York and one in New Jersey.
And second, even in the US, Apple sells the iPhone out of AT&T stores, so you'd expect them at the very least to be sold out of Rogers' outlets, not Holt Renfrew.
For what it's worth, Holt's do carry the Vertu phones, and they had a Band & Olufsen kiosk in the Toronto store. They also carry some designer electronics like brionvega televisions. Perhaps $800 is the price apple calculated the phone is worth without the subsidies they receive.
Apparently Ted Rogers told apple to siooma, he'd rather sell blackberries with a $60/month 25meg data plan than offer something with unlimited data. Ted also killed the sidekick in canada when Rogers bought out Fido (the other GSM provider).
For what it's worth, Holt's do carry the Vertu phones, and they had a Band & Olufsen kiosk in the Toronto store. They also carry some designer electronics like brionvega televisions. Perhaps $800 is the price apple calculated the phone is worth without the subsidies they receive.
Apparently Ted Rogers told apple to siooma, he'd rather sell blackberries with a $60/month 25meg data plan than offer something with unlimited data. Ted also killed the sidekick in canada when Rogers bought out Fido (the other GSM provider).
No carrier = no iPhone news.
Sorry. This is pure bullshit, and if you're trying to cover your ass so 4 years from now you can say "we told you, the Holt Renfew guy will be selling them"...sometimes it's better not to publish anything.
trust me :)
It's not even just a question of it being unlocked. Canada has only only one GSM carrier: Rogers (Fido is owned by Rogers), and Rogers has no flat rate data plans - and the plans they have are horrifically expensive. That would make using the iPhone in Canada a very expensive thing to do, or would cripple all the Internet related functions - which is at least a third of the iPhone's features.
You can toss out visual voicemail as well.
So you'd be paying twice as much for a phone that does 2/3s as much as the US version does.
You'd be better off getting one in the states and jailbreaking it.
Or getting an unlocked WM phone like the Prada or Touch.
Prada is not WM!
Actually, the iPhone's 'features' that require a data feed probably means that the truer percentage is almost exactly reversed - 2/3rds of iPhone 'features' (and especially since the 1.1.1 update) needs the access.
As noted, data plans via Rogers (the only GSM provider in Canada) are cripplingly expensive for any potential iPhone user, while I can't see them being dead keen on having to give up their own lucrative ringtone and music download service in favour of iTunes - a doubtless requirement from Apple.
Still, maybe the folks that can afford to shop at Holt Renfrew (owned, incidentally, by the same company that brings us Loblaws and Great Canadian Superstore - so there's even more potential. But I digress...) can afford to buy a heavily marked-up unlocked iPhone and pay Rogers standard data fees?
But for the Canadian Unwashed, I guess its the iPod Touch and the hope that someday The Smug Basted from Cupertino will actually let buyers use it to its full capabilities...
The Iphone IS going to be sold at Holt Renfrew:
They will have a Gary Coleman version an O.J Simpson edition. It is going to be 60GB with a build in Espresso machine...oh and it gives virtual blow Job's
Kidding aside, I have been reading Engadget for years now, perhaps it is time to switch to a source that is not posting SHIT.
Nice going ENGADQUIRER
when i got my iPhone unlocked at the beginning of September I called Rogers and asked for a new data plan and the data sales rep i talked to told me that they were working on the details for the plans for the iPhone and they would probably be out in December. It makes sense, it'll probably come out at the same time as England and Germany, and they will probably have a fair use clause like 1400 pages a month or whatever on that unlimited data. Unlimited EDGE is like free water at wall drugs. It doesn't cost them anything.
The iPhone work with Rogers.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/christiangendron/sets/72157602125509218/
About data prices, this week Rogers changed the pricing structure, I've heard some users getting 1GB data plans for $65 through Rogers, and their pricing structure is a bit odd at the moment.
They're also offering half a gig for $80 with a Win Mobile device
http://www.shoprogers.com/business/wireless/plans_services/business_plans.asp?plan=dataservice&cat=2&typ=2
http://howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1252787
100% CONFIRMED by 3 employees at their flagship store in Toronto. I asked one, who is very close to me, if they had any plans to sell Apple products again (they sold iPods a few months back)... she laughed and said yes... the iPhone is coming... to be sold with a high end accessory (LV carrying case perhaps).
IT IS NO LONGER A RUMOUR!
I've lived in Canada all my life (just under 30 years) and I have never, ever heard of this company.
The only time I ever heard of it was when I was living in Quebec City for a few weeks, I thought it was a local chain, not knowing there's locations near where I live.
Are you serious? Its probably one of the greatest Canadian retail success stories.
I think the thing that is most interesting is the quote from Rogers
"The iPhone is a phenomenal product and at Rogers Wireless we look forward to being able to offer it in Canada. When we have a public announcement to make, we'll let you know"
So clearly something is in the works...
I sure hope it isn't sold only through HOLT for $800... That would really suck.... I know in the past they have sold cell phones, luxury ones that is. So this could be true, but $800 vs. $400... What is stopping us from driving over the border picking one up down there? If it's going to be aloud in canada, wouldn't that work now without an unlock?
Wow. $799? People do realize that American and Canadian dollar are at par now? How at all is a price this high justified? Especially with an 8gb capacity.
Maybe it's unlocked? How many people are willing to pay unlocked iPhones for $799?
I just want to say that I wanted to verify this with someone within the company, and I was told that they looked at the iPhone months ago, and decided not to take it. It will be realeased with Rogers in January. Simply, the iPhone is not a fashion accessory, the Prada phone is. The iPhone is a current 'fad' and is not something that should be carried within this fashion chain.
The dimensions a little off in that picture?
$799? I can just see the lineup of...5 people waiting to buy it, I sure hope they bring enough iPhones to Canada
I will eat my own penu if this is true.
The only reason I could see the price point so high is because it comes with a high end accessory. I read that "if" this were true it would come with a Louis Vuitton case.
I hate Rogers with a passion. It's a slow-moving dinosaur exemplifying Canadian inefficiency at its worst. As for the iPhone, for $800 CAD, forget it...I feel most Canadians will not bother.
I love all you guys hating on Holt's and the people who shop there. Just because you cannot afford to doesnt make it necessary to knock those who can. You guys are scrubs.
Because watching you walk down the street in $5000 clothing isent hatin on my poor ass already. Not to ment me being broke in general and i gotta deal with this hitler presedent thats going to destroy my doller and make me even more broke.
THAT IS A BUNCH OF CRAP!!!!
Especially since the Canadian dollar is above the US dollar now =D
Whatever... Im getting one from the US and unlocking it
Just be careful buying one in the US that you don't get one with the 1.1.1 firmware already installed. That happened to one of my co-workers today. It was bought at the NY 5th Ave Apple Store on Tuesday and it arrived today.
For those of you thinking of getting an iPhone and unlocking it, make sure the 4th and 5th digits of the serial number are 38 or below. Supposedly this is the best way to tell if it has the 1.0.2 firmware or not without unboxing it.
My co-workers' serial # is 39 and mine is 35, which I've had for 2 weeks and using it on a Rogers $65/1GB Data Plan, which is pretty damn good considering I had my previous Treo 650 on a $40/7MB plan. You read that right – 7 measly megabytes for $40!).
Damn. That sucks.
I am not buying my iPhone myself, but my Aunt may have purchased it already and is shipping it eatehr at the end of this week or next week.
Watch them stick some cheesy wallpapers and rings on it like they did with the Dolce & Gabanna gold Motorola RAZR. They likely want it 'cause it'd be 'exclusive' and that's what Holts is all about. Still, even if they carry it, what's the deal with the voice and data? Who'll take care of all that? I can't imagine Rogers giving them exclusivity on a sane price.
As a Toronto resident, I contacted Holt to confirm this rumour. The guy in the cellphone dept (yes, cellphone dept, they sell Vertu phones) told me that the iPhone will indeed be shipping in two weeks, will sell for $799, and he even took down my number to give me a shout when the units arrive. He sounded confident and breezy, not flustered like I thought he would be under the strain of receiving all these calls about the Canadian iPhone.
So from my experience, this story isn't bullshit. DigitalJournal is right about this rumour, for now.
This is quite possibly the dumbest iPhone rumour yet.
Why would Holt Renfrew, a high-end retail chain, carry a cell phone that has no available carrier in Canada?
And why would they sell it for double the U.S. price when the Canadian dollar is regularly trading above the U.S. dollar?
Honestly, this is just too stupid to print.
Rogers isn't ready for the iPhone to be released in Canada. They are currently rolling out HSPA service (stating with Toronto) and the very earliest it will come out will be early next year. Probably when the 2nd Gen version comes out.
What tells me that the Holt Renfrew thing is totally bogus is the price, it will never be that expensive here plus the fact that Apple would not let an 11 store chain sell an item for an entire country and not their own stores.
THe iPhone will come to Canada, it's a given. Rogers is the only carrier that can handle it so things are just waiting for them to upgrade their network.
I would've never guessed that the words "iPhone" and "Holt Renfrwew" would be used in the same sentence.
"I like iPhones and shopping at Holt Renfrew."
Ain't gonna happen unless Rogers is on board.
Besides, some retailers are selling these in Toronto for 699 unlocked already..
Ain't gonna happen unless Rogers is on board.
Besides, some retailers here are selling them unlocked for 699 already
I think Canada should of been the first place to get the phone outside the US because I think Rogers (or telus mobility operates on the same network)is a division of AT&T because on this Rogers phone that I got from the thrift store (it doesn't work because rogers shut off the network for old phones)says "Rogers AT&T" with both logos.
Rumor Squashed...
This is the reply from a personalshopping@HoltRenfrew.com
Holt Renfrew will not be carrying the iphone. I would check with your
local cell phone dealer.
Holt Renfrew
Personal Shopping, Bloor Street416. 960. 2554
50 Bloor St. West
Toronto, ON M4W 1A1
Forget Holt Renfrew. Apple iPhone is in Canada already!
Yesterday I was browsing through the computer stores on College Street in Toronto and guess what I saw? An 8GB Apple iPhone for $599!!!
I had one foot out the door getting ready to get in line at Holt Renfrew before reaching the end of the article and being brought back to reality.
Why we [Canadians] don't have iPhones...
California has more people than all of Canada.
Rogers and Apple can't agree on which one of them should bend over for the soap.
Roger's ridiculously INSANE data rates.