The iPhone 3G was launched internationally a year ago. From June to August 2008, iPhone mania reached a peak; lines snaked around phone stores worldwide, and for a while, the ubiquitous xylophone ringtone was heard everywhere.

It’s been almost a year since then and the true 3rd-generation iPhone, the 3G S, is about to be released. In the meantime, a plethora of other phones have hit the market, and various Android, WebOS, Blackberry and Symbian smartphones are in the pipeline. How many of you are still on your 1st and 2nd gen iPhones, and what is iPhone sentiment like in your country?

This is pure conjecture, but could North American consumers (and those in countries with locked iPhones) be more price sensitive, as opposed to consumers in countries with unlocked iPhones who are more concerned with features and variety?

My friends and I were talking about it months before we got our iPhones. Since then, however, most of them have ditched their iPhones for other devices. Now, the thing is, unlike in the US where you can only get a permanently locked iPhone from AT&T, in Australia the iPhone is available from all the major carriers and is unlockable on demand. Most phones are sold unlocked, and we’re pretty much used to paying retail for contract-free phones, with the knowledge that because they’re unlocked, they can be sold easily to pay for a newer phone. We’re not stuck with one phone, so we don’t necessarily spend two whole years getting to know and love our iPhones. As soon as something dissatifies, it’s out with the iPhone and in with the Nokia.

There’s also the vast selection of GSM phones. I’m one of the few people I know still using an iPhone as a primary device. Some friends switched because they didn’t like the choice of colours, and the design. They now have cute little SonyEricsson sliders (in pink and sparkly white). 5 megapixels is the norm for phone cameras in the GSM world, and most people scoff at the iPhone’s 2 megapixel non-focusing cam. Even the 3 megapixel module in the 3G S has been overshadowed by Samsung’s soon to be available (well, probably not in North America) 12 megapixel monster. Feature wise, the iPhone is a middling phone, which is one of the reasons it’s been selling abysmally in Japan (I had a Sharp phone 4 years ago that had an optical zoom, which is still a rarity these days). It’s still miles ahead of most phones available in America, though, from what I’ve seen in Best Buy et al.

AT&T has sold out on pre-orders alone, but what is it like in your part of the world? The response to the 3G S has been a bit muted in Australasia, but then the hype last year was incredible with iPhone launch parties being held everywhere. The economic downturn has undoubtedly played a part, but the modest updates, and the lack of new colours (not even a product (red)??) are major upsets. Has the iPhone endured as well as the iPod internationally? Or will it go the way of the Cube?