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Amen brother!

you are a fanboy

How was the $100 credit "long-planned" if as Jobs said, "details are still being worked out?"

Sure, you can rationalize it all as Jobs' master plan, but that doesn't make it so. Yes, it all worked out in the end, but only because the Apple faithful complained loudly, not because Jobs planned it all to work out this way.

Exactly.

Anyone who didn't know about the iPhone price cut before the $100 announcement sure knows about it now.

Let's see... that should cover everybody.


~M

Hmmm... I'm not convinced that each of these steps were pre- planned...

Especially the $100 credit.. I do think that was a reaction to the situation and not a pre-planned marketing move.

I couldn't disagree more.

Oh, I think Steve Jobs is a genius, but in spite of Wednesday's iPhone price reduction fiasco.

Steve miscalculated big time - it turns many early iPhone purchasers were seriously pissed off. I don't think the goodwill generated by the $100 credit still leaves Apple in the negative in this whole event.

Steve introduced some pretty incredible things on Wednesday and they all got overshadowed. The media and the public would have been talking about all of the great new iPods, the iTunes Wi-Fi music store, ringtones for the iphone, but instead everyone was talking how Apple screwed their customers.

How is that smart??

Who care if it was planned?

Even better it wasn't as it demonstrates his flexibility and attention to details with his mac base.

coolness.

100% correct. And Bush has a secret plan to turn the Iraq fiasco into a similar PR coup....

"you are a fanboy"

Is he biased because he likes Apple or does he like Apple because he is biased?

I agree that most of this was planned already. But your argument is flawed. If the marketing were good marketing then we would have cheers, rather than jeers. Given the oustanding announcements, the stock price has dropped 14 dollars. That's not good marketing, it's bad buzz obviously.
But you are correct that the next effect will be a great increase in sales. But we can't classify this as a genius move. But he may have had no other option for handling this better, given the rapid rollout, iPhone upgrades, holiday season, aggressive attack on the mobile market, and European rollout.
But relax, Apple people, Steve Jobs is the smartest of them all.

Dead wrong. The iPhone price cut was a serious marketing blunder, from overshadowing the new iPods' media coverage to pissing off a lot of recent iPone buyers (though not me). The $100 store credit, however, was a brilliant save. The probability that this was all planned is...zero.

Menwhile, Apple stock continues to tank.

I'm going to guess that the investors have a better name for him than "genius".

Apple just has to move a lot of iPhones before Rev 2 in January MacWorld

They underestimated themselves, based the iPhone upon the same demand curve as the iPod.

The only problem is the iPod opened basically a new market because of legit music downloads.

Everyone who wants a cell phone already has one, and locked into a contract to boot. So the demand curve is much slower.

People are waiting until their contracts expire with present phone and then will buy the latest iPhone.

Most other just need a slim, cheap, low monthly cost phone that just makes phone calls, nothing else.

Why else would Apple put out a iPod Touch? Because they are not making significant headway in the cell phone market.

There is a lot of unsold iPhone inventory right now, Apple may be considering getting out of the market come January.

He and Madonna should get together, since she is the queen

Plan? No. He got tired of hearing you people whine like a bunch of sissies. BOO HOO BOO HOO.

Anyone who doesn't think this was all completely planned has lost their mind.

Shurely no one is really that naive.

you are a fool

MDN WORD "MUST"

You MUST have forgotten your meds

I think Apple SERIOUSLY underestimated the cell phone market.

This dramatic price reduction and $100 kickback shows they are NOT selling iPhones as well as expected.

Also the FACT that AT&T;and CISCO is working VERY CLOSELY WITH THE NSA/CIA to monitor the internet and cell phones doesn't relate well to selling iPhones.

The recent RASH OF EXPLOITS ON THE IPHONE goes to show it's not a secure device.

Apple realized their mistake entering this market and now is making the iPod Touch and will be phasing the iPhone out. Trying to dump all the excess inventory before January.

Depending how sales go until January depends if we see a iPhone 2 or not.

I suspect not "We gave it a good try"

Oh come on, SteveJack. I don't for one moment believe that Jobs expected the uproar over the price cut. The $100 store credit was damage control. Expertly executed damage control, but damage control nonetheless.

"And Bush has a secret plan to turn the Iraq fiasco into a similar PR coup...."

But he pronounces it "koop" and then giggles to himself.

We're really enjoying watching our mildly retarded, alcholic fratboy with easy access to weapons of mass destruction (real ones) and our wallets.
When he finally finishes reading (and coloring) The Pet Goat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bushreadingthepetgoat.jpg), it will be enshrined as the foundation of the GWB Presidential Children's Library and Mental Retardation Facility.

"I'm going to try to see if I can remember as much to make it sound like I'm smart on the subject." --George W. Bush, answering a question about a possible flu pandemic, Cleveland, July 10, 2007

"More than two decades later, it is hard to imagine the Revolutionary War coming out any other way." --George W. Bush, Martinsburg, W. Va., July 4, 2007

Sorry, Stevo, I have to disagree as well. You're giving Jobs just a bit too much credit. Unless Apple has a crystal ball, there's no way they could forsee precisely how everything would play out.

I also feel that the iPhone price drop and subsequent negative reaction took away tons of coverage that should have been there for the new pods, ringtones, wi-fi store, etc.

P.S. I do agree that Jobs is a genius however!!

Iraq is a success already.

The oil price is up, that negatively affects the rest of the world more than the West.

A consequence of the increased oil price is more support for the dollar.

Iraq's oil is now not available to the West's competitors, China and India to name two. It is safely locked up underground for when the West decides it needs it.

Profits for the companies involved, primarily oil and military supply, comfortably exceed the costs to the US and UK taxpayers.

Big business has taken taxpayers money and turned it in to cash in their executives and shareholders bank accounts.

How is that not a success?

To compare 'playing' the media to a Stradivarius is an insult to Stradivarius. The media is more like a garbage can band.

So the iPhone is meeting sales targets and outselling all other smart phones, but Apple is getting out of the market?

C'mon, the future of computing is mobile and wireless. You telling me Apple doesn't want to dominate that and take back its rightful crown from Microsoft?

@Socrates

Time to drink your cicuta now...

It is called Capitalist Economic Theory 101 people:

1. Price it at whatever the market will bear.

2. Moderate demand with price. (don't have enough product? price the heck out of it!)

3. It's better to take a little hit with a price drop than to be humiliated with inadequate stocks of an insanely anticipated product.

Maczealots are cowards.

"Iraq is a success already." Success for whom?

$15 million worth per day of Iraqi oil is stolen and cannot be recovered.

190,000 pistols and AK-47s are missing and cannot be accounted for.

And the cost of the Iraq War is close to half a trillion dollars:
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

All that to appease George Bush's warped fantasies.

@me

> How was the $100 credit "long-planned" if as Jobs said, "details are still being worked out?"

That's EXACTLY what he wants you to believe. If he had said "here's how to get you refund," everyone would know it was planned.

> Yes, it all worked out in the end...

... because that's the way it was planned. Steve Jobs is too smart NOT to have anticipated these moves.

He did it before with the concerns about battery life, screen scratches, and data plan costs. He let the media write articles about these "problems," generating free publicity. And then, as if he was "solving those problems," he announces that battery life is very good and screen is made of glass. And at the last minute, AT&T;announces the plan rates, which were quite low.

Some Bastard stole my $599 iphone on Monday, I was pissed that I lost $599. At least now I only feel 1/2 as bad thanks to the price reduction and the $100 credit due me.

"Yes, it all worked out in the end, but only because the Apple faithful complained loudly..." —me

Actually, the Apple Faithful kept their mouths shut and are simply enjoying their amazing new iPhones. The Apple Whiners have certainly complained loudly, demonstrating their complete cluelessness about what it means to buy brand new, cutting-edge technology. These people don't even deserve to own an iPhone, much less a rebate!

Is it wrong to enjoy being "played" with by Steve Jobs?

Anyway, I'm going to use my $100 to pay for the .Mac account this year.

I and everyone else who bought the phone, felt the price was fair at $599 and knew that eventually, either the prices would drop or that future phones would have better specs for the same price. The price drop did come awfully quick in terms of technology, but that leads me to the next point. I believe this was the plan all along, from price drop to store credit. Looking at it pragmatically, it makes perfect sense. Analysts have said that Apple sold 1 out of every 50 phones sold last month. Their goal had been to gain just 1% of the overall market share of cell phones but they were tracking at 2% based on recent numbers. So why the price drop now?

Lets say you are a company with brand loyalty wanting to get into a new, but well-established market. You release your product at a premium after hyping it and creating a serious buzz around it, knowing that many of your brand loyalists will buy. You price it at a premium, so if the sales are weak, you can boost them with a price reduction and not lose any money. If the sales are strong, the buzz will eventually die down and will need to be reinvigorated to regain interest for the holidays. Either way, a smaller audience will buy the product, but they serve as a second tier testing group, bringing to light any issues that might have been unforeseen with the phone in actual use, without ruining the market wth millions of disgruntled owners. The cost not only controls the volume sold, but it also offsets any potential disaster if sales were horrendous.

The phone was doing well, but the buzz was dying down as expected, plus, Apple was releasing new iPods this month, which could also dampen iPhone holiday sales (one of the new iPods is essentially the iPhone without the phone or email capability). The buzz would need to be reintroduced. The price drop makes news and in turn regenerates the buzz. People who were on the fence because of price, would be more likely to buy (while smirking at the original buyers). People who had forgotten about the phone, would be reminded and enticed with a lower price. Even stories of disgruntled early adopters made news and buzz (no such thing as bad PR). Lastly. Jobs gets to look like a great guy by waiting 2 days, then stating that he has heard the customer outrage and feels Apple should do a better job in taking care of its early adopters. He then gives those customers $100... in store credit. Apple loses nothing as that money will be spent at Apple. They get even more PR mileage for the iPhone, and they look, on the surface, to be a fast reacting company that listens to its customers and cares. Oh, and we are all talking about the iPhone again.

I am not trying to be an apologist for them, this just seems to make good business sense to me. It is a radical and risky move, but those are the moves that generally work the best. Like I said, I was happy with the phone at the original price. I am even happier that I am getting $100 in credit, so I don't feel cheated. I wasn't out anything more than before the price drop and I get a freebie to boot. Why not $200? Apple's fiscal year ends in August. Profit from large margins this year, profit from volume sold next year. They'll easily have 2% of the cell phone market by the end of next year.

Check the main page of MDN: a half dozen media analysts agree that El Jobso played the media masterfully this week. Virtually every newspaper in the country has been running stories about Apple.

Re: the stock market fall of Apple: make no mistake, it is being done deliberately by short-sellers, who stand to make TONS of $$ over the coming months. Short-sellers sell thousands of shares (at a profit of course) to FORCE THE SHARE PRICE OF APPLE DOWN, with the intention of turning around and buying more shares for less money afterwards. Apple exceeded virtually all expectations with the new iPod lineup- why did the share price start dropping, even as Apple was announcing one improved product after another? Because the short-sellers realized that Apple was in for a record holiday selling season- they knew if they could drive the share price down short term, any shares they bought after would rocket up in price within a few months.

This is also the reason behind the "leaked" stories about a delay in the release of iPhone and further delays in the release of Leopard. Remember when Apple has recently lost billions in market cap- OVERNIGHT- due to some stupid rumor or other? Someone instigated that- and made a boatload of $$ at the expense of the rest of us.

Apple is currently one of the few truly successful tech co.s right now- people who are long on Apple have made big, big profits over the last couple years- and due to the media fascination with all things Apple, they have become a prime and easy target for stock manipulators.

Jim Cramer of "Mad Money" has as much as instructed hedge fund speculators on how to manipulate share prices this way- and has suggested Apple as a good company to experiment on. Daniel Eran Dilger of Roughly Drafted has an excellent explanation of how this all works- and quotes Cramer extensively. You can hear it from Cramer himself.

http://roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q3.07/F521AA31-1E02-4DF1-86C3-AA022A105D18.html

When Apple's stock dives, certain people make millions of dollars on the news.

"Time to drink your cicuta now..."

I represent an idea, and ideas are poison-proof.

What some of you forget is the old adage that all publicity is good publicity. I cannot claim to be able to read Steve Job's mind, but I agree that without spending a cent on ads he filled the media with Apples. I say, well done.

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