iPhone price wars begin - massive discounts hit France...

France is Europe’s healthiest iPhone market because the device has been sold there by multiple carriers, driving sales higher - now carriers there are slashing prices on the product, applying steep discounts against the regular price.

Bernstein Research recently claimed over 600,000 iPhones were sold during Q3 2009 in France alone by dint of this non-exclusive strategy. With that kind of saturation, carriers know it’s time for a price cut, particularly as expectation of a new model iPhone continues to grow.

With this in mind, French mobile operators Orange and SFR have reduced the price of some iPhone models.

Orange has cut the price of the Orange iPhone 3GS with 16GB of memory to €59, down from €149. The 8GB iPhone 3G sells for 19 and the 32GB iPhone 3GS starts at €179.

To benefit from the low prices, customers must sign an Origami star contract, starting at €40.90 per month. IPhones account for around 60 percent of Orange's smartphone sales, and smartphones represent 20 percent of handsets sold at Christmas, the operator's marketing director, Jean-Marie Culpin, told Les Echos.

SFR is selling the 8GB 3G iPhone for €29, the 16GB 3GS for €99 and the 32GB for €199. SFR's marketing director in charge of handsets, Laurent Lame, explained that the competitive pricing of the iPhone was due to it being "the" mobile for this end of year.

Don’t feel neglected - we suspect these French price cuts are a taste of what’s to come in the months ahead across other markets, though we also suggest such steps will only be taken in markets in which such price elasticity is likely to make strong impact on Apple smartphone market share...