It's a good thing when people get the message on what i'm trying to say.
I'm just making ASSUMPTIONS on what the price would be if we want to get it without a contract and since no info about getting an iPhone without contract in US then i used the figures from TIM. Itu pun x paham ker? Right now all we can do is assume/guess but with some facts/figures, not just shooting in the dark. Who knows later someone manage to find a loophole to get the phone from US and cheaper (not as cheap as USD199) ... sure it benefits us all.

Maybe u weren't there when iPhones were first seen at shops/forum, the price was RM2.8K - RM3K for the 1st gen. That time the price for 1st gen iPhones were:

4GB = USD399 (exclusive tax)
8GB = USD499 (exclusive tax)

USD499 + USD40 (tax) x 3.2 (taking the highest conversion rate) = RM1408 ... but they sell for RM3K. Thats the price early adopters have to pay.

So please don't talk dumb and nuts == I'm not sorry for saying so coz next time, put up some facts before shooting down peoples statement (and try to read it carefully next time).

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Added on June 20, 2008, 10:16 pm** Update **

According to speculation by AppleInsider and Macrumors, the subsidy that AT&T gives to iPhone is around USD325. So roughly we can ESTIMATE the price for unsubsidized phones in US.

8GB = USD199 + USD325 = USD524 = RM1676.80 (excluding tax)
16GB = USD299 + USD325 = USD624 = RM1996.80 (excluding tax)

Conversion rate USD1 = RM3.20

But the article in MacRumors said the subsidy might not be that high since the termination fees from the 1st gen iPhone is USD175 so that might be the subsidy price. Replace the USD325 with USD175 and u get the other figure.

Like I said ... THIS IS JUST A SPECULATION OR ESTIMATION. This is not the actual price. We have to wait until july 11 to know exactly.

Source: AppleInsider
Source: MacRumors