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We are Steve Jobs 1,000,000 suckers who helped fill his pockets with our money.I want my 200 back!!!
We got ripped!

Kind of sucky, but oh well. I can't say I really regret it, and I've only had it about a WEEK.

I should be pissed, but it is an AMAZING leap forward.

I knew the iPhone would go down in price when I bought it...and my wife's. If Apple did something for the early adopters and gave some sort of credit, that would be a wonderful thing and I'd be appreciative.

On the other hand, again, I absolutely knew the price was going to drop and bought the phones anyway, so I can't complain that much. Honestly I was more pissed when I bought a Macbook a few weeks before the core 2 duo upgrade.

I'm really pissed. I got ripped off.

Like a few months ago, I picked up a hooker who looked really clean, and I thought I got a great deal with a $15 knob polishing. Then a week later there were these little red splotches growing down there. I had absolutely no reason to think a $15 hooker would give me a disease, just like I had no reason to think Apple would drop the price of a $600 phone.

yeah, I feel pretty bummed. Bummed enough to make this my first actual post after months of reading.

Apple's pricing policy:

Should Apple reduce its price on any shipped product within 10 calendar days of shipment, you may contact Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price. To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 business days of shipment.


Do a Google search on phone rental rates and come back and tell me Apple ripped you off.

Going from a WM5 "smart" phone to the iPhone: $200

Now being totally Microsoft free: Priceless

Worth every penny. AT $2.94 per day for my early adoption, worth way more than the same amount of money for a latté, a burger, a beer or whatever. Of course the price was going to come down. So what? As an AAPL shareholder, this is the right move.

I sent my feedback to Apple @ http://www.apple.com/feedback I would appreciate an iTunes gift card gesture in any denomination to reward returning Apple's investment in iPhone R&D;.

More than the price drop, I'm annoyed with the new touch screen iPod...my iPhone will no longer be the unique conversation piece it has served till now!

As far as the $200 goes, I'm definitely feeling hosed as Apple has essentially admitted that they way overpriced it back in June. It still is a great piece of technology.

I bought on July 1 and have enjoyed the iPhone greatly. It's a wonderful piece of technology, and I'm still very happy that I've got it. However ... the $200 price drop after only 2 months put a very bitter taste in my mouth. I fully expected a drop in price and/or an increase in features ... but about 6 months after the release of the iPhone, not 68 days later. Indeed, I fully expected when the 4 GB unit was wiped from the screen that a price-drop would be coming for the 8 GB unit. I thought they would drop the price back to $499 and then announce a new top-end model with more storage space (a 12 or 16 GB model). I could have stomached that more easily than just a price drop.

Historically, Apple's timing has been horrible with me. Usually I buy a new Mac about 6 weeks before they release a major update/upgrade ... just enough outside the "price guarantee" limit. This time I thought "I'll buy when the iPhone first comes out, so at least I won't have to worry about the price dropping or the phone being made obsolete for 6 or so months." HA HA! I made it 8 weeks.

You should sue. I think you've got enough of a case to get a lawyer to file a class action.

Quit yer bitchin'. We all know that as early adoptors that we'd pay more than other people for the privilege to be the first on the block to own an iPhone.

It was worth every single penny.

I've had my iPhone since the middle of July, which is somewhere between $5.00 and $3.00, but I'm not bummed whatsoever. It's just such an amazing product to have, I'm just happy that I can buy my wife and kid one now for $400 cheaper. It's not like they expanded the HDD and dropped the price, or worse, added a GPS. THEN I would be pissed.

I have no issues here, The price I paid when the phone came out was worth it for me even though it was $600. I knew it was going to go down even if it was only 2 months later I still feel I bought a great NEW product and I knew how much that NEW technology was going to cost me. I never bought the iPhone under the notion it would stay at $600 for the next 6 months.

At the new price point I think there is no reason to complain about the price anymore and it should get a lot more people excited to buy the iPhone.

Now the area of concern would be to see a rev 2 iPhone to come out a month later that has GPS and or GSM. I greatly doubt this would happen but if it did, I think it would be WAY too soon and should have been done initially.

I actually feel we may even see a 16gb model at a higher price ($100 more) that may come out in the next month or shortly after.

So at this point, I feel fine and actually HAPPY of the new pricing...



http://www.macinfosys.com

Here's all the proof you need to:1) show that Apple products are overpriced, 2) You mac lemmings will buy anything that they put out and always feel you got a great deal....suckers....

If nearly a million people bought it, it wasn't overpriced.

Correction of GSM to 3G

Just pissed.

The new price makes sense in the new ipod lineup. It can't be too much more than the new touch ipod. That said, $200 after 68 days is too steep. It leaves me a little upset and WILL harm new product launches. It should have been $100 now and another $100 before Thanksgiving (mid November). That would cover the Christmas shopping season and not be such a hit to early adopters.

What I really want to know is at what point Apple knew they were going to drop the price.

Apple DOES know how to optimize "demand-curve utilization." But normally, when they cut prices, they offer a new high end for the early adopters to upgrade to. This time, the high end has just been lowered. I wonder why. Maybe there's something new on its way later.

Maybe they just decided that the $599 point was too high. I doubt that though.

If it was a good deal a month ago (and it was), it's not a "ripoff" today. Suck it up, that how technology works. You should be happy that the iPhone is now poised to make a huge noise this holiday season.

I feel worse about the $350 I had to pay to my old phone company for two early cancellations than for the extra money I paid to Apple.

i don't feel sorry for you. i would have paid 2000 if it was available here in france. have been waiting since the newton's demise.

@Daddy

At $599 the iPhone was on par with many of the "smart" phones out there. Even the RAZR was $600 when was first released. Now at $399 it's a steal.

I am really unhappy with this. Everyone knows that sales volume decreases production costs and that leads to lower prices, but $200 in two months is too much too fast. Apple had sales projections and was not surprised by the sales; they have to plan more than two months out, which means this price cut was planned before June 29, and we did indeed get ripped off.

It even makes early adopters a laughingstock among Apple fans! A friend of mine bought an iPhone on my recommendation. Is he still a friend now? I don't know. I was the only one in my office with an iPhone. Will anyone listen to me when I recommend Apple products now? Best to keep my mouth shut.

Apple lost a lot of goodwill today. They created 1,000,000 pissed-off customers who will no longer be so quick to advocate Apple products. This is a brainfart of Microsoftian proportions. It's difficult to be an avid fan when you feel ripped off.

I just bought a new 24" iMac with all the trimmings. It cost about $3,000. If they pull the same trick with the iMac that they did with the iPhone, I'd lose $1,000! The iMac was a lot more wonderful yesterday than it was today.

I was thinking about replacing my laptop when the new ones come out, but now I think I'll wait for the refurbished ones. Or maybe I'll go Linux.

Apple could recover from this debacle by giving us an early adopter award. They have high margins. It would be possible for them to give us something worth $200 retail that doesn't cost them much. It would not only mollify us former fanbois, it would also be extremely good PR. And it might help them avoid the class-action lawsuit someone suggested

This was a business decision. Jobs got a good chunk of his development costs back by shafting the early adopters. Now he can make real money by vastly increasing the sales volume. Remember, he has to earn that $1.00/year salary.

I was one of the folks near the front of the line on June 29th to get an iPhone. I fully understand the "technology game" where once you buy, it's obsolete. The thing that's screwed up, and leaves a bad taste in my mouth, is that, all of us who were excited to buy the iPhone, who shelled out $599.00, who MADE it the phenomenon that it is, are getting screwed. The ones who are being "rewarded" by Apple are all the people who said, "I'm gonna wait and see", or "I'd never pay that much", or "I'll get the next one after they've got all the bugs worked out". They get to go out and buy an iPhone today for $399.00, less that 2 months later. I love my iPhone, but something stinks here... Apple should make this right. All of the "early adopters" should get a $200.00 Apple gift card or iTunes Music Store credit or something...

What a bunch of babies. The iPhone was worth every penny I spent for it when I gladly threw down $599 for it in early July. I didn't regret it for a second back then, so why should I feel hosed now? I'm surprised Apple dropped the price so dramatically so quickly, but to me, it just shows that their going after their competitors with extreme prejudice and bloodthirst.

If all of you suddenly regret the "early adopter tax" you paid, then it obviously wasn't worth that much to you when you bought it, so why did you buy it?

Welcome to the cell phone market Apple fans. I bought a Blackberry 7290 from Rogers in Canada a couple years ago for $399 w/2 year contract. within 6 weeks, Rogers was offering it for $99 after $300 service credit. Called Rogers to see what they could do for me, and was politely told to go fly a kite.

In the cell phone market, these kinds of price drops happen all the time. A phone that sells for $500 when it launches is $99 a year later. If Apple wants to play in this game, they have to be competitive. We're just going to have to get used to it, and if it bothers you, then don't be an early adopter.

I think people should stop whinging. If it was not worth $600.00 to you when you bought it, then you should not have spent the money.
If you only bought an iPhone so that you could show off to people, then you have bigger problems than thinking Apple cheated you of $200.00

F*cked, reamed and pissed is how I feel.

I know one thing, I will NEVER buy another Apple product upon release ever again. I was there on day one to buy Jaguar, Panther and Tiger. On day one to buy the first iPod shuffle and Mac mini. On day one to buy the first Intel iMac. Never again though.

As they say, Fool me once shame on you, but fool me twice...

Steve Jack, I commend you!

I think that this is the first time that I've ever read something by you that even slightly suggests that Apple may have done something wrong.

I am very disappointed by this move from Apple today.

Not only is it unprecedented, it is very un-Apple like. I normally take comfort in knowing that Apple products never go on sale and that their monetary value will remain through the normal course of the products or current generations life cycle.

This is a slap in the face to Apple's most loyal customers.

A 33% price-cut in 60 days is too much, too soon, anyway you slice it.

I will never be an early Apple adopter again.

Why is everyone so upset?

This isn't JUST an early adopter issue, it is a technology issue...

I bought a brand new Pioneer 43in Plasma a year ago for AU$5000 (best price from average retail of around $5,600), today the NEW model with a built in HD tuner (I had to pay another AU$600 for the HD tuner) is approx. AU$3500!!! So in one year I could have saved AU$900, which is approx. AU$2.47 a day...

Should I Bitch, Whine & Moan!!!!

No, just reality peoples, suck it up and get over it - you wanted to be FIRST with an iPhone, you WERE!!!

You ALWAYS pay a premium to be the kid that is first on the block showing off a new shiny toy!

As a AAPL shareholder I have NO ISSUE with Apple doing this if it protects their earnings estimates. I don't care if they sell 100 iPhones and make 50% per phone in profits, or 200 iPhones and make 25% per phone in profits. In fact in terms of long term strategy of Apple securing a place in the smartphone arena, the second option is better, as it draws in more third parties for developing accessories and software etc (yes I know software is limited at the moment), as they have a bigger potential customer base to develop for!!! Also this strategy INCREASES the number of OS X installed devices out there compared with the first, which AGAIN poses well for Apple's ENTIRE business!

Sometimes you have to "buy" market share, I am sure once Apple establishes itself it will move margins more towards their preferred 30-40% range.

In fact margins MAY still be OK, as the estimates at iPhone launch were approx. 50%+, so even with this $200 price drop on a $599 phone with a 50% margin, you new margin is 25%:

$599, with 50% margin - cost is $299.50, PROFIT is $299.50

IF (and that is a big IF) costs remain the same @ $299.50, new price is $399, Profit = $99.50 = 25% margin. If Apple have negotiated even BETTER pricing from their suppliers, then the margins may still be above 30% which is pretty good.

Remember that Apple ALSO get a payment for EACH and every iPhone from AT&T;, PLUS on ONGOING revenue stream EACH MONTH from AT&T;, and again, the theory that it is better to have MORE iPhone customers each resulting in TRAILING payments to Apple makes PERFECT business sense.

I hope the dullards sell off AAPL MORE in the next few days, I'll be pouring some cash into pick up their offloaded, and hence under valued shares for them.

my 2 cents,

Luke

PS - excuse any grammar/spelling, rushing to get to a meeting!

The ones bitching the loudest probably couldn't afford the iPhone in the first place and will be making payments for another six months...

As an apple shareholder I am grateful to you early adopters just the same. I wanted the iPhone to succeed in a big way and you made that possible.

So thank you.

MikeK,

SteveJack has taken Apple to task before.

Some examples:

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/8273/opinion/

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/5445/opinion/

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/495/opinion/

Oh sorry just had to post about the guy that is going to go Linux!

I love you types, I'm upset with Apple, I am going to throw out the baby with the bathwater and drop Apple completely and waste my time and life "enjoying" linux!

Similar Chicken Little types were bitching about the PPC - Intel move, and the Mac OS - OS X move etc etc

I'd say please go, but I know an idle threat when I see one...

As an AAPL shareholder, I do want to say THANKS for the revenue for your iPhone and iMac though (and all the recommends to others too!)

Good luck with RedHat!

Luke

It's just bad business to treat your most loyal customers like suckers. I am expecting to hear about a rebate--maybe a credit at the Apple Store?--very soon. It would cost them only a fraction of the cash they caused to be squandered.

It sucks (price decrease). SJ is biting hand that feeds him (one way to look at it). That is business. We always get more out of our best customers. Especially, early adopters. I bought 2 iPhones on release at $599 price. I also bought a lot of APPL shares at considerably less than it sells for now.....long time prior to release. Do I care about price decrease now? NO. I am early adopter and know I will pay more for it early on but will benefit if I am market savvy and believe in company I invest in. If early adopters do not invest early...when they see a winning product...you lose. I can send my kids my kids to college on my early adoption experience. Who cares about $100 here or there. If you adopt early and think you have a winner...invest. If you don't....shame on you. Why should they not try to extract best price they can based on what market can bare?It sucks (price decrease). SJ is biting hand that feeds him (one way to look at it). That is business. We always get more out of our best customers. Especially, early adopters. I bought 2 iPhones on release at $599 price. I also bought a lot of APPL shares at considerably less than it sells for now.....long time prior to release. Do I care about price decrease now? NO. I am early adopter and know I will pay more for it early on but will benefit if I am market savvy and believe in company I invest in. If early adopters do not invest early...when they see a winning product...you lose. I can send my kids my kids to college on my early adoption experience. Who cares about $100 here or there. If you adopt early and think you have a winner...invest. If you don't....shame on you. Why should they not try to extract best price they can based on what market can bare?

I bought my iPhone on day one and stood in line like many of you, not all night but about 2 1/2 hours. It was a good time bonding with my fellow Mac addicts. I am not thrilled that we early adopters paid $200 more then but the drastic price decrease was a shocker! I feel like we were paying to be beta testers, we have been promised updates (someday) and before that day came the iPhone price was slashed over 33%!

It really kills the pride of ownership, Apple should do something to compensate us a nice iTunes gift card, that would cost them virtually nothing but make us feel better about the situation or free Apple Care, I mean hell it only adds one year of repairs.

I dobut they will do anything becasue it would admit they were wrong in the first place but it would be the "right" thing to do.

I do like my iPhone, its fun to use. But I am saddened by what Mr. Jobs did and feel that we are owed something.

Meeting cancelled!

@ Ne14tennis: YES you do have to wonder how they are FEELING ripped off if they were willing to pay $600 for the iPhone they SURELY felt it was worth that at the time, if NOT, they are f&^ked in the head for buying something they didn't feel warranted the price. If it was worth $600 to you even a DAY ago, it shoudl STILL be worth that today, even if someone can buy it for less!!! And as noted use the return/credit policy if purchased within the last 14 days.

FACT is the bitching and moaning has more to do with feeling like a goose for wanting to show off a new toy so early and being caught out...

As per my example, at the time I felt the plasma I bought was worth what I paid for it, and I still do. I KNOW I wouldn't pay that again if I was buying NOW, and I WOULDN'T feel it was worth that IF I WAS BUYING NOW, but for when I did buy, that WAS the ONLY price, and as I WANTED IT THEN, and couldn't wait until NOW, then that was the price I was happy to pay.

GET OVER IT - you wanted it toot sweet, you paid a premium for that!!!

@ Rob, what about fooling you 8 times (including the iPhone with your other examples) as you have suggested by your post?!?! Is it REALLY Apple that has the problem buddy?

6 cents and counting.

Luke

PS - I am in Australia, we will get the iPhone in most likely Q1 '08... by then I reckon it will be another US$50 off the price (or same price bigger capacity) and TRUE 3G... I WILL be an EARLY adoptor for Australia (except the people running iPhones now with hacks), and I KNOW I will pay MORE than my friends that wait a few months, I DON'T CARE, I WANT TO BE ONE OF THE FIRST, and I wont bitch and moan when Apple drop their prices, cause I WILL ONLY buy the iPhone IF I believe the PRICE is reasonable AT THAT TIME.

@icancsf

What?

You got the privilege to beta test a product as well as fund the free iPhone for Apple workers. Whats wrong with that? LOL

This really sucks! But really after the initial steam wore off, i guess it not all that bad, except now all the early adaptor aren't so cool any more... JUST SUCKERS!

Thanks Steve Jobs thanks...
P.S. anyone want to buy my apple share, I dont feel like being a shareholder now......

I'm not upset at all that the price was lowered. I love the idea that more people can experience owning an iPhone. Besides, what's $200 to people who can drop $600 on a cellphone?

Steve Jobs Q&A;- "That's what happens in technology"

From USA Today:

t's not every day you slice the price of a popular product by one-third.But Apple CEO Steve Jobs did just that Wednesday with the iPhone. By the end of the day, the combination cellphone, iPod and Internet device was available for $399, down from $599. Additionally, Apple refreshed its iPod line with new models.

Q (USA Today:) Q: What do you say to customers who just bought a new iPhone for $599? Sorry?

A: (Steve Jobs:)That's technology. If they bought it this morning, they should go back to where they bought it and talk to them. If they bought it a month ago, well, that's what happens in technology.

Sad. Very Sad.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2007-09-05-jobs-qanda_N.htm?csp=34

I have used Apple products since 1984. Apple have added value to every product I have purchased from them, & mostly free upgrades in all that time. I have been an early adopter (original Mac SE 40 to 1st gen Blackbook) & have been treated better by Apple in support, upgrades &Tco;over all, than any tech company including Nokia, Samsung, Microsoft, Hi-Grade (laptops), Sharp, Motorola, Phillips, Toshiba & even Sony in their good days.
I know who I'm stickin with.

Ps: This will be the biggest Holiday season for Apple yet.

well i love my iPhone but a $200 price cut is really big and i dont like that my just released phone is $200 cheaper.
i hope apple gives some kind of refund

I expected this price drop. Anyone who didn't is naive. Some of my friends told me to wait a couple of months, but I wanted an iPhone day one and I'm fine with it.

If I had a product that took me years to make, lots of money spent in development, and it was an absolutely new thing that would be impossible to predict how good it would sell...

I would want to have a bigger margin at the outset.

I think the iPhones that were built in June sold out too soon. That couldn't be more reassuring. Now, the material prices for the same technology must have gone down a little. And there are new iPods that steal some of the thunder from the iPhone.

It makes perfect sense from a business perspective to slash the price to a less "anxious" price point that can compete with Apple's own iPod touch.

Add to this that the iPod touch will be sold internationally months before the iPhone can become available. It will also sell to those who are locked in with non-AT&T;carriers and with those that have a tighter budget in the US. This is essentially going to be publicity for the iPhone. People are more likely to call it "phone-less iPhone" than "iPod touch".

Anticipation for the iPhone internationally, and immediate acceptance once it is released can only get better this way.

Then comes the technical issue of 3G and battery life, which would mean that the next batch of iPhone, especially those sold internationally, will have more expensive components.

So I would expect an 8G and a 16G iPhone with 3G capability to be released by the end of the year. The price points would have to be below the $600 mark. So if the "more-expensive-to-make" 8G model stays at $399, and the 16G goes for $599, it would be extremely reasonable pricing.

All this while maintaining at least 25% margins. This is how it should be in my opinion.