Maxis is having a big price reduction on the iPhone 3GS 8GB. Now it can be yours as low as RM199 on a new i3GS plan which has a monthly commitment fee of RM79/month. There’s only 1 contract duration option of 24 months.

However there’s a few things to take note. the i3GS plan offers 200 minutes which is restricted for Maxis to Maxis calls. This means calls to other networks are charged as extra. Also included is 250MB of data which after exceeding is charged at 5 sen per 10KB. If you plan to take up this RM199 offer on i3GS plan, there’s a RM840 upfront payment required which will be rebated back over 12 months.

If you’re a heavy user which usage more than 250MB, an extra RM21 for iValue 1 will give you 1GB of data and 333 call minutes which can be used to call all networks. However the iPhone 3GS 8GB costs RM800 on 24 months contract on iValue 1. So looks like you gotta pick between cheaper phone price with lower “value” plan or higher value plan with pricier phone.

For more information, head over to Maxis iPhone page.

UPDATE: Maxis has confirmed that the the white iPhone 4 is available at all Maxis Centres in the Klang Valley. They advise you tweet to @maxislistens on stock availability.

Maxis has revealed that it is offering the White iPhone 4 claiming it to be the first to offer it in Malaysia. A while ago, DiGi started a teaser that it is offering the White iPhone 4 but had not provided any availability dates. Singapore had theirs last Friday.

We have no idea whether it is available at all Maxis outlets at the moment but from the copy above, it looks like Maxis is riding riding on the Mother’s Day celebrations which is coming this Sunday, 8th of May.

For more information, head to Maxis’s iPhone 4 page.

Thanks to chengkiong for the heads up!

UPDATE 14042011: Maxis WiFi Hotspot service now revealed.

UPDATE 29032011: Added iPhone 4 price comparison below. Maxis has removed the Free 3 months WiFi service offer from their page. Their WiFi hotspot service not ready?

Before

After

Maxis has started cutting down its iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS 8GB pricing, an expected move before the new iPhone makes its debut. In addition, they are also giving Free Maxis WiFi service for 3 months if you purchase an iPhone with their plans.

Compared with its initial iPhone 4 pricing, iValue plans bundle price see a reduction of RM100-200 depending on model and contract duration.

Just a few weeks ago, they have introduced iValue Lite plan of RM70/month which is on limited time offer until end of next month. There’s no change on the iPhone 4 pricing for the Lite plan except for the 24 months contract price for the 32GB iPhone 4 which was reduced from RM2390 to RM2290.

Check out the iPhone 4 pricing here and 3GS 8GB here.

Comparison of price difference after the break.

Maxis has introduced a time limited offer to own the iPhone 4 at a lower commitment. From 4th March until 30th April, Maxis offers the iValue Lite plan with commitment of RM70/month which makes it more affordable than its current RM100/month iValue 1 plan.

Despite being RM30 cheaper, most of the bundled data, talk time, sms and MMS are less than half of what’s being bundled in iValue 1 plan. Not forgetting also are the call rates which are charged higher at 18 sen/min. As highlighted in our previous DiGi vs Maxis iPhone 4 comparison, Maxis bundled SMS and MMS are restricted to Maxis to Maxis only.

On the iPhone 4 subsidised pricing, it is merely RM200 off for 12 months contract and RM300 off for 24 months contract. For RM30 less, that’s a lot to sacrifice on usage and a chunk on phone subsidy. Even if you’re with a tight budget, iValue 1 is much more recommended than this lite plan.

Check out the plan details at Maxis iPhone 4 page.

Those who have been following the developments of the iPhone 4 launch here in Malaysia will note that at launch Maxis didn’t make it’s iData 1 plan available. Early adopters of the iPhone 4 with Maxis has to subscribe to either iData 2 or iData 3 plans or its selection of iValue plans, all of which tied the subscriber to a 12 or 24 months contract.

Now that most of the first to buy crowd already purchase their iPhone 4s, Maxis is drumming up interest again by re-introducing the iData 1 plan.

Maxis iData 1 offers a paltry 250MB data for a monthly fee of RM30. With the iData 3 plan iPhone 4 hopefuls can look forward to purchasing the phone outright sans contract. RRP for the iPhone 4 are RM2,290 for 16GB version and RM2,690 for 32GB.

Wonder if DiGi has anything up their sleeve to counter this.

More on Maxis iData plans here.

It’s a week into the iPhone 4 launch in Malaysia and you’re Still undecided on which telco to go to to get your iPhone 4? Well, maybe this can help you. It’s a calculator that compares both the Maxis and DiGi iPhone 4 plans based on your mobile usage.

The creators of the iPhone 4 Maxis/DiGi calculator claims that it will “help you get a clearer idea of the actual cost” of owning an iPhone 4 based on your mobile usage. All you need to do is key in your estimated monthly mobile usage and the calculator will draw up “a chart for you to analyze and compare Maxis & DiGi’s iPhone plans“.

We can’t vouch for the accuracy of this calculator but it’s fun to play around with the numbers. And if you still haven decided on which telco to go with yet, well, you’ve waited this long so might as well wait a bit longer. There will promotions coming to sustain the iPhone 4 buzz from both telcos. So if you wait for the right moment, you might be able to get a very good deal in an iPhone 4. Maybe even an outright, no contract purchase. Who knows.

Here’s a link to the calculator, oddly enough, it’s a on a pet listing website of all places.

Thanks commenter John for the tip.

[picture credit]

(Update 25092010 2246hrs) Looks like DiGi made a booboo in its Twitter feed. It’s facebook wall says 4000 numbers we’re given out. If they achieved that in half a day, that’s an impressive number.

This tweet from DiGi doesn’t look encouraging if you’re looking to purchase the iPhone 4 from them. Just after lunch time on their first Saturday selling the iPhone 4, and it appears DiGi has ran out of stock for the day. Interestingly, the Quill 9 collection point closes at 2200hrs, so why stop giving out queue numbers so early?

The marketeers mantra is to never stop selling what the customer wants and you don’t need to be genius to know that the iPhone 4 is currently on the wish list of a lot of people so why has DiGi stopped giving out queue numbers at the half day point — only 400 numbers?

On the other side, Maxis’ iPhone 4 collection point at the Gardens is bustling and can comfortably handle over 400 customers. We were at the midnight launch and even at that point in time there was easily more than 400 customers, on a weekday mind you.

Could it be that DiGi is selling in more places and in more states than Maxis? 45 outlets from 24 September versus Maxis’ only iPhone 4 collection centre at the Gardens. Even when Maxis starts selling the iPhone nationwide on Monday 27 September, they would have only 27 outlets across Malaysia selling the iPhone 4 as opposed to DiGi’s 45.

More outlets could mean stocks of the iPhone 4 is spread thin but could that be the real reason DiGi is only giving our 400 queue numbers at Quill 9? We don’t think so.

We’re speculating that it is very possible that DiGi has less iPhone 4 stock than Maxis. Quill 9, for this weekend at least, is the iPhone 4 central for DiGi. Most of their iPhone 4 promotion materials point customers to go to Quill 9 to get the iPhone 4 from DiGi. Based on this, Quill 9 should have the most iPhone 4 stocks. In fact DiGi shouldn’t stop giving out numbers at Quill 9 but they did and that could only mean that stocks are low. Why else would they deny customers from getting the iPhone 4 on the spot?

We’re putting out this question to DiGi PR. Hope their reply is more forthcoming than @DiGi_Telco, we seem to have no luck with the official Twitter account.

So the iPhone 4 has gotten your attention and you’d like to get one as soon as possible. Your best bet is to sign-up with Maxis. We we’re at their launch last night and was impressed at the scale in which they’ve deployed manpower to ensure that the flood of iPhone 4 buyers are properly managed and each customer return home happy with iPhone 4 in hand.

The iPhone 4 from Maxis is only currently available at the Gardens, Mid Valley and Maxis has brought in extra manpower from it’s offices all over Malaysia to the Gardens to handle a large number of customers that will be coming in to purchase the iPhone 4.

From our own experience yesterday, Maxis had deployed ample headcount to attend to the huge number of people that was at the launch. We could approach any Maxis staff and asked a question and every single one greeted us with a smile and attended to us in earnest.

It is very clear that Maxis wants to make your purchase of the iPhone 4 from them a pleasant an experience as possible. But there is only so much that they can do.

If you’re going to the Gardens for the iPhone 4 this weekend, we’re telling you to be prepared. Even during the midnight launch last night there were already long lines snaking two floors. We can predict that that line will be much longer this weekend. So be prepared to wait and wait and wait.

There’s no denying that wait will be long, some people we talked to waited for two hours but the bright side to this is that it looks like there’s enough stock for you to get an iPhone 4 on the spot. So we’d advice you to wear something comfortable, bring a fold-able chair if you have one and bring some snacks. Also bring something to kill the time.

As most of you will be driving, we suggest you park at the Gardens at Zone U and head up all the way to level 6, that’s where the collection is held. If you can bring cash because there will be glitches in the POS system. Last night during our own purchase of the iPhone 4, for some reason all the POS system couldn’t process transactions made with CIMB credit cards. I would be such a waste if you’ve lined up for a couple of hours to get an iPhone 4 but was halted due to a system glitch. Of course the Maxis customer service staff will do everything they can to assist you but we’re saying be prepared.

Looking at the number of customers coming in, these glitches are expected. Some customers couldn’t get their receipt printed and had to be issued with a manual receipt. Just keep your cool, be prepared and try to maintain a positive attitude.

Check out the some of the videos we’ve taken during the launch last night after the jump to get a picture of the number of people that you can expect to see collective their iPhone 4 over the weekend.

On a happier note: You can get 25% discount on all iPhone 4 accessories at the collection centre. All the best and good luck!

It looks like all bets are off and both DiGi and Maxis will be pulling out all the stops to entice you purchase the iPhone 4 from them. We are now just hours away from what could possibly be Malaysia’s most epic telco battle ever!

We were the first to report on the claim that DiGi made about it’s iPhone 4 offering being the “most affordable” in the country. Having placed a booking for the iPhone 4 with Maxis, we’ve now re-looked at our plans to get the device from Maxis knowing that DiGi could offer something better.

And we suspect many of you who’ve made bookings or are considering to get the iPhone 4 from Maxis are seriously reconsidering and waiting to see what DiGi has to offer.

Maxis is feeling the heat from this and have gone all out to get everyone to attend their midnight launch tonight. They’ve gone on all channels, including on radio, Twitter and via SMS to invite the general public to come to their midnight launch tonight.

Looks like whether you’ve made a booking or not, Maxis will entertain you if you come tonight to purchase the iPhone 4 with them. Not being able to offer the iPhone 4 as early as Maxis, DiGi is trying to woo as many people with of Maxis its yet to be revealed iPhone 4 plan.

From where we’re looking at it, it appears that DiGi’s tactic is working. Many are now playing the waiting game to see who has the better offer and if indeed DiGi’s iPhone 4 deal is the most affordable in the country.

Now the question of sufficient stocks come into play. If the difference in pricing is minimal, many would opt to get the iPhone 4 from the telco that can provide it on the spot. Many will recall that during the iPhone 3GS days, Maxis was notorious for ridiculously long waiting periods (up to one month or even more) while DiGi, although it had launch the 3GS much later than Maxis, was able to provide units on the spot.

The game will have changed slightly now as both telcos are launching the iPhone 4 at the roughly the same time which means that spread of demand will be split between the two — at what ratio, we can only estimate that more will opt to purchase from Maxis. How much more, we don’t know — you can however expect to be able to get the iPhone 4 from either telco quite easily in our opinion. BUT, as with all predictions, we could be wrong.

We’ll be at the DiGi launch today and the Maxis iPhone 4 launch tonight to give you the latest developments on this, so keep it locked on to SoyaCincau.com.

(Update 21092010) We’ve updated the post with the screen caps from the booking process and apparently only those who have registered their interest earlier can book the iPhone 4. Click here to read more about it.

We just discovered that Maxis has opened booking for the iPhone 4 and it looks like you can get an iPhone 4 as early as midnight 24 September if you book quick enough.

The booking process allows you book an iPhone 4 for one supplementary line as well and you can choose the time you would like to collect the iPhone 4 and the location. Currently your choices are limited to The Gardens.

iPhone 4 units are limited to first come first serve so you better be quick and click here to book your iPhone 4 before the first batch runs out!

More screencaps on the booking process coming.

DiGi, your move.

If you’re afraid to complete the booking process in fear of needing to make a payment, not to worry, there’s no payment involved. Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough of the Maxis iPhone 4 booking process.

Step 1
You get to choose either to keep your existing number or register a new number with Maxis, straight forward enough.

Step 2
You fill in your details like full name, NRIC No. etc. You also get to choose if you want to book an additional iPhone 4 for a supplementary line.

One person can only book two iPhone 4, one for his main line and one for a supplementary line under him.

If you opt to register a new number the process is roughly the same it’s just that you get assigned a new number. But for both registrations, you must be an existing Maxis or Hotlink customer.

Step 3
You choose your the iPhone 4 you want and the plan that you’re interested in. Again, pretty straight forward.

In this section if you’re an existing iPhone subscriber with Maxis, you can opt to extend your contract and upgrade to the iPhone 4. Basically if you’re on an iPhone contract with Maxis and if you add another 24 months on top of that contract, you don’t exceed a total 0f 30 months per line, then you’re eligible.

That means, you could have just gotten your 3GS last month and if you’re on a 12 month contract, you’re still eligible to purchase the iPhone 4 and extend your contract for another 12 months. Not bad.

In the same section, you get to choose the date and time when you would like to collect the iPhone 4. You can collect as early as midnight if you want to.

Step 4

Finally you confirm all your details are correct and you click submit. You will then be given a booking confirmation ID via email and SMS and you’re set to collect your iPhone 4.

We were told by Maxis that this booking is only for those who have registered their interest earlier and that those who did not register their interest can’t place a booking. Interestingly, we didn’t register our interest and we successfully got a booking ID. So we’re not sure how this is going to work.

Will we be able to get an iPhone 4 from the booking we made? If we’d turn up with the booking ID but had not earlier register our interest, will Maxis turn us away and refuse to sell us an iPhone 4?

We’ll let you know when we go and collect our iPhone 4.