Vodafone New Zealand release iPhone pricing and details

See the Vodafone New Zealand website.

And wow, the reaction has been nothing less than scathing across the board! I think I saw perhaps one positive tweet, but otherwise there was lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Cost to purchase an iPhone outright:
8GB: $979NZD = $740USD
16GB: $1129NZD = $853USD

Ouch. More detailed pricing and plans are here.

While Vodafone spokeman Kursten Shalfoon says the data prices are sharp by New Zealand standards (and in all honesty, he’s probably right), that’s only because NZ is still behind the rest of the world when it comes to mobile (and fixed line) pricing/performance.
To be fair, a smaller market and fewer market competitors (or as some would say, a monopoly) has dictated this, but people were really expecting something more inline with US pricing.

Ars Technica have a table of global pricing. While the NZ prices haven’t been added yet, it’s clear that NZ is the most expensive market by a long shot.