UPDATE: Maxis tweeted that this trade in offer is only for those who had RSVP only.

Want an iPhone 4 but don’t know how to get rid of the old one? Maxis has tweeted that they are opening trade-in counters from tonight until Saturday. We guess Maxis must have listened to many tweets asking for a trade in program for its existing customers.

They didn’t say how much your old iPhone 3G or 3GS is valued but we guess they might need to evaluate your iPhone before giving it a price. Plus, no mention if it accepts grey import or iPhones from other operators. If you’re interested, this is worth a try at the Gardens.

Another update is that Maxis is waiving the RM50 fee for contract extensions. This looks like a last minute attack plan against DiGi’s launch.

[ SOURCE ]

(Update: 23092010 16:30hrs): Maxis puts back link for Rate Plans on iPhone 4 page.

In a surprise move, Maxis has removed its iPhone plans and pricing from its website.

Is Maxis adjusting its iPhone 4 plans to counter a better offer from DiGi? With still 2 days to launch, anything is possible. However we felt that Maxis is getting a little fickle minded these days with its show and disappear act on the iPhone 4.

Pricing is obviously sensitive information and if they are not confident of launching it first, revealing them officially days before the launch would definitely catch its competitors attention. Some are speculating that DiGi could beat Maxis to the launch by several hours. Maxis could be waiting to see DiGi’s offer first before they reveal their actual launch plans.

So would the iPhone 4 be cheaper than its earlier published price? It is possible but we’re not expecting them to reduce the iPhone price any further. Perhaps more calls and data quota for their iValue Plans?

You can still view the Maxis iPhone 4 plans here.

[ SOURCE ]

(Update 21092010) There’s a misprint on the RRP price for the 32GB iPhone 4. It’s actually RM2,690 NOT RM2,490. How silly of us and we’re sorry for the confusion. We’ll update the tables in a bit. Thanks to commenter Berlinwall for pointing it out.

The big news this week is the iPhone 4 launch in Malaysia. It’s a close race between DiGi and Maxis on who will launch it first and what kind of plans will be on the table.

Looks like Maxis has released the first salvo with full details on their iPhone 4 plans and it is confirmed that they will be launching the new iPhone on Friday, 24 September 2010.

In an unprecedented move DiGi will also be launching the iPhone 4 on the same day but DiGi has been very quiet on what kind of plans that they will be offering to counter what Maxis has put out. We’re expecting DiGi to pull something big out of their hats, but it’s not going to be much different from the plans that Maxis has. The main differentiator will be the value added stuff and rebates that both telcos are willing to fork out. The question is how much money is Maxis and DiGi willing to pay in terms of cost-per-customer to win subscribers?

In the meantime let’s take a close look at the new iPhone plans from Maxis and compare them with the old iPhone plans to see if what’s on offer is really good value for money.

iPhone prices overall outright
First up we’ll look at the iPhone prices overall.

iPhone 3G 8GB – RM2,540
iPhone 3G 16GB – RM2,960

iPhone 3GS 8GB – RM1,990
iPhone 3GS 16GB – RM2,490
iPhone 3GS 32GB – RM2,990

iPhone 4 16GB – RM2,290
iPhone 4 32GB – RM2,690

As you can see, generally the price of iPhones across the generations have dropped significantly, but if you look at the next section where we compare subsidised pricing of the phones, an interesting trend will soon emerge.

iPhone 3G subsidised pricing

iPhone 3GS subsidised pricing

iPhone 4 subsidised pricing

iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4 16GB version compared

Overall, you can see that iPhone prices are dropping and this drop in RRP is also extended to the end customers in terms of some savings across the subsidised prices. Essentially you’re getting better technology at a cheaper price.

In addition, iPhone 4 owners riding on the iValue plans get additional value in terms of increased data cap and additional SMS and MMS bundled into the plan. Although it might not look like a lot, it is still additional value that subscribers can appreciate and that is always a good thing.

So we can safely sum up the new iValue and iData plans from Maxis, makes the iPhone 4 the most affordable iPhone to date. This combined with the contract extension offer provided to eligible existing iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS customers makes the iPhone 4 plans from Maxis very enticing indeed to a extent that it is almost a no brainer for existing iPhone owners who are on Maxis contracts to just simply extend their contracts and upgrade their iPhones.

Some would argue that they would not want to be tied-up to a contract and lament on the fact that there’s no option to purchase the phone outright from Maxis. On Maxis’ side we can understand why they have omitted this option. Bringing in the iPhone 4 means that they have to spend money to bring the stock here and to recoup this cost locking subscribers to a contract is a quick way to cover cost. This is business.

On the consumer side, contracts can work in your favour too. To get the most out of your money, our advice to you is to really look at your usage patterns and find out how much is it exactly that you’re using in terms of voice and data. With that information, you’re bound to find a subsidised plan that best suits your usage. If you subscribe to that plan, then the cost of the contract to you is nil as you’ll be paying for the services anyway, so why not get a subsidised phone while you’re at it?

Of course there’s the issue of not being able to port out whenever you feel like it. To this we say, if you’re going to sign a 24 month contract with Maxis, you best make sure you’re generally happy with their service all this while. If you’re not, then simply don’t sign up.

So subsidised phones attached to contract plans can be a good thing for you. You just need to know what you’re getting yourself into and to always remember to choose carefully.

So that’s pretty much it. Do note that the iPhone 4 launch will be on 24 August September for both Maxis and DiGi. We have no details on what DiGi’s arrangement will be but with Maxis, the iPhone 4 will be available on 24 August September for selected customers only. Klang Valley will get to purchase the device on 26 September and nationwide sale starts on 27 September.

Maxis has just released full details of its iPhone 4 plans ahead of the telco’s official launch of the device this Friday, 24 September.

As far as we can see, there are a few enhancements in the new iValue and iData plans but we’ll get into the details of that a little later. For now, we’re seeing that the contract extension offer to existing iPhone 3G and 3GS owners is very encouraging and is similar to what the AT&T are doing.

Maxis has done a good job with this contract extension offer and it definitely makes iPhone 4 ownership to existing customers a tremendously attractive proposition, to an extent that we, as iPhone 3GS owners are also considering on taking up the offer.

Incidentally, there’s not even a peep from DiGi as to what their iPhone 4 offering will be. Looking at what Maxis has to offer, DiGi has to come up with something very special to counter.

At the end of the day it’s us, the consumer who wins, and that’s a good thing.

Check out the links below for the Maxis iPhone 4 plan tables or click here for full details.

Maxis iPhone 4 iValue plans
Maxis iPhone 4 iData plans

Pricing for subsidised iPhone 4 below:

UPDATE: Maxis iPhone 4 pricing and plans now official.

We gotten a heads up on the purported iPhone 4 offering by Maxis via twitter.

What’s interesting is that there will be a contract extension program offered during launch for existing users of iPhone 3GS up to a maximum of 30 months, inclusive of current contract. This will come with a fee of RM50.

The grand event is purportedly happening on 24th September at 12am-4am for invited guest only. More details to come soon as we get it.

[ SOURCE, VIA ]