The concept of region locked DVDs has been around for years. It’s annoying but it is what it is. But having a region locked phone seems like complete lunacy to me. However according to GigaOm, Samsung has apparently gone ahead and done that to the Galaxy Note III “phablet”:
Yes, if you buy an unlocked Note 3 in Europe and travel to, say, the U.S., you will not be able to use a local SIM card. The same applies the other way round. In other words, you will be forced to pay for your carrier’s outrageous roaming fees or go Wi-Fi-only.
This fact first came out in a Wednesday blog post by the British online retailer Clove. Samsung has confirmed to me that they are really doing this, and I’m waiting on a statement.
Quite frankly, this is unbelievably dumb on the part of Samsung. I use a unlocked iPhone 5 because I can use a local SIM when I travel and avoid the beyond over the top fees for roaming that the big three telcos charge. I like that freedom. Many others do as well. The fact that Samsung would limit you to a SIM purchased in a given region makes the Note III a lot less appealing to me and I am sure many others. Simply, this is a self inflicted gunshot wound to the foot from a PR perspective that Samsung simply does not need.
Samsung, please explain why this is something that you’d push on your customers? I’m sure we’ll all want to hear the rationale behind that decision.
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This entry was posted on September 26, 2013 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Samsung. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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#FAIL: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Is Apparently Region Locked
The concept of region locked DVDs has been around for years. It’s annoying but it is what it is. But having a region locked phone seems like complete lunacy to me. However according to GigaOm, Samsung has apparently gone ahead and done that to the Galaxy Note III “phablet”:
Yes, if you buy an unlocked Note 3 in Europe and travel to, say, the U.S., you will not be able to use a local SIM card. The same applies the other way round. In other words, you will be forced to pay for your carrier’s outrageous roaming fees or go Wi-Fi-only.
This fact first came out in a Wednesday blog post by the British online retailer Clove. Samsung has confirmed to me that they are really doing this, and I’m waiting on a statement.
Quite frankly, this is unbelievably dumb on the part of Samsung. I use a unlocked iPhone 5 because I can use a local SIM when I travel and avoid the beyond over the top fees for roaming that the big three telcos charge. I like that freedom. Many others do as well. The fact that Samsung would limit you to a SIM purchased in a given region makes the Note III a lot less appealing to me and I am sure many others. Simply, this is a self inflicted gunshot wound to the foot from a PR perspective that Samsung simply does not need.
Samsung, please explain why this is something that you’d push on your customers? I’m sure we’ll all want to hear the rationale behind that decision.
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This entry was posted on September 26, 2013 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Samsung. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.