nd total of zero.AppleInsider and CrunchGear report that starting Friday, SoftBank's new "iPhone for Everybody" campaign (translated page is here) will offer the 8GB iPhone for free, as long as you sign up for a new two-year contract. The promotion apparently runs through May 31.
Meanwhile, SoftBank will sell the 16GB iPhone for a steeply discounted price—just 11,520 yen (about US$119), and you can even pay for the handset in monthly installments, which come out to less than $5 a month during the two-year service agreement.
SoftBank subscribers will still have to pay monthly voice and data charges, of course, although as AppleInsider notes, the carrier is splitting its standard data plan (about US$62 a month) by more than 25 percent.
Here in the U.S., of course, the iPhone 3G is still $199 for the 8GB and $299 for the 16GB model—although if you're a Reward Zone member at Best Buy, you can snap up an 8GB iPhone 3G for $99 (through February 28 only).
So, what's the big deal? Hard to say; as CrunchGear points out, Apple has yet to release iPhone sales figures for Japan, while Ars Technica speculates that SoftBank might be besieged to fulfill its promised sales objectives for Apple given the worldwide financial crisis.
In case, if you've been longing for a new iPhone and you happen to live in Japan, it seems that your lucky day is Friday.
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