“The surveys are in and iPhone customer satisfaction scores are higher than we’ve ever seen for any Apple product,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in the press release. “We’ve clearly got a breakthrough product and we want to make it affordable for even more customers as we enter this holiday season.”
The 8GB iPhone is available immediately for $399 in the US through Apple’s retail and online stores and AT&T retail stores. The iPhone 4GB model will be sold while supplies last.
MacDailyNews Take: 8GB iPhone early adoption price = US$200.
No Beatles = disappointment for me. There is nothing there of use to me except the iTunes store on my iPhone. Do I get a $200 rebate?
I was so ready to buy a lot of Beatles albums tonight. I still want the remastered Sgt. Peppers.
Ripped.
Off.
Sure, I would have liked to save $200, but it’s not really that big of a deal.. I’m still happy I’ve had my iPhone since day one!
Really looking forward to the update too
Glad I waited. First?
ouch……
Beatles? I guess to each their own, but they are so over-rated in my opinion. I can think of maybe 3 songs that are okay.
I think Steve forgot to mention my $200 credit at the Apple Store.
weird decision.
the current line of products makes no sense.
why buy the iPod touch, without a hard drive, and not that much cheaper than the iPhone ?
why reduce the price of the iPhone by $200 ? that is really a bad sign.
i guess new iPhones are on their way, a 16GB model, maybe one with GPS ?
Of course I knew that the price would eventually come down. I would have been more upset if a 16gig iPhone came out.
$200 won’t make or break me.
I am surprised there was no Beatles announcement but honesylt, I have the CD’s I wanted already ripped years ago.
I like the ability to buy from my iPhone ( a bit miffed they dropped the price $200!).
What I really wanted was HD movie rentals! Oh well…the NEXT announcement I suppose.
4 GB—discontinued…
8GB—price cut…
16GB—just around the corner?
I wonder how long it will be before the 16GB version is released.
“why buy the iPod touch, without a hard drive, and not that much cheaper than the iPhone ?’
Have you somehow missed the hundreds of discussions about how people want an iPhone minus the phone? Well now they got it.
Most of iPhones features without the contract and AT&T;.
The price for the iPhone itself pales anyway in relation to the cost of the two-year contract with AT&T;.
200 USD give or take – you’ve got to have deep pockets one way or the other.
InTheShelter:
Unless you are of a certain age, I can (maybe) understand why you feel this way. To us 50somethings, there is still magic in those grooves (bytes)!!!!!
50 is the new 30!!!!
I could understand dropping the price after a year or something, but after just a few months? Way to punish the loyal die-hards Steve Jobs. Plus, I wanted a red shuffle back in February when they came out with ORANGE instead. So I got a blue one. And then they announe Red today. I love Apple, but today Steve Jobs is on my sh@* list.
Kinda funny how other companies lower their prices when they see disappointing sales (a la Zune), but Apple has a product that’s selling like hotcakes and they surprise everyone by slashing prices like this. Talk about playing hardball. What’s a competitor to do?
Why do I feel ripped off? Without a voucher or rebate to those who supported Apple in its newest venture based on faith alone, the company has just angered and alienated many in their core group of long-time enthusiasts. Six months after a product launch, sure. But six weeks? If they have any business sense, they’ll hop on this and make amends.
While I am surprised that the price has dropped so soon, I’m not upset by it. The more iPhones in service the more options and accessories that we are going to eventually see, just like with the iPod. The new pricing is ideal. It basically let’s an iPod shopper to add cell phone functionality for just a hundred bucks; an easy upsale. It also signals new models to come.
The downside is that I am already hearing news reports spinning the price cut as an “attempt to boost sales”, implying that goals aren’t being met. Sales have been off the charts already and Apple wants to continue the momentum with the new pricing.
@InTheShelter
What you don’t realize is that almost ALL the songs you’ve heard your entire life are courtesy of the Beatles influence on music.
C’mon, people! This happens every time Apple launches a new product – updates and price drops come fast and furious (though this is quicker than I would have expected). Those intent on living on the bleeding edge will always pay a premium and take a risk.
Anyone who has watched Apple for more than a couple of years knows what to expect: get it now and be an earlier adopter; wait a few months (or a few weeks) and get it cheaper and probably with initial kinks worked out.
You buys your ticket and you plays the game…
To those of you whining about, “Where’s my $200?”, well, uh, it’s not your $200 anymore. Ya see, that’s the way it works when you buy something.
I find it rather astonishing the some of you are so stupid you don’t understand that products *do* come down in price. Like it or not, that’s the world in which we live.
Go buy a new car, and then check out the prices a few months later when they want to make room for the new models. It happens all the time for “just introduced” products of all sorts.
Look, the rest of us knew they would come down in price, and said as much. But you wanted to be first, first, first, and live on the cutting edge. Well, that’s the price you pay. Living on the cutting edge is not free. In this case, it costs you 200 clams. Deal with it!
My iPhone is the best thing I ever bought. It’s not perfect, perfect until he doubles the storage & throws in gps, but otherwise the $200 for two months was worth it, to me.
To OpJ,
Speaking of your Mom, Fsck you and Fsck your family.
I would venue to guest that steve just let the food flood out for the feeding frenzy, oh poor zune…. drop the price and say how the future will be better…..
“WOW!” Your Passion and our dumb-ass products! Microsoft.
So much b|tching about 200 bucks… It doesn’t take a wizard to figure out how Apple prices and upgrades their products, but oh well, it’s not that big a deal in the long run.
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It’s far more important to drop the price point and make it more attractive to consumers. This holiday season is going to be gargantuan (there’s that word again) for Apple and AAPL. You can get a pretty good deal on AAPL shares today if you hurry.
-c
What’s with the pissing and moaning by the early adopters? Look folks, it’s a roll of the dice when you buy the latest and greatest. You’re pissed because prices were dropped, how about the fact that you could have paid $500 for a poor product? Be happy you bought a quality product, you paid what it cost at the time and that’s that.
Dear Steve –
WRT that price cut… Just a quick note to say thanks for raping the early adopters.
Much love –
The customer
@Oops,
Dude, get real. Show me where Apple has EVER dropped the price of a new product by 33% within 70 days of its release.
Don’t act so above it all. You’re talking out your arse.
Didn’t expect this, but VERY welcome. I can foresee a lot of very troubled boardrooms today as their profit margins have just been slashed by this news.
Notice the GUI on the new iPod touch is slightly different than the iPhone. It looks like the new Dock in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
So, the arbitrary lack of Google Maps, Mail, Notes, and Weather on the iPod touch rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps under AT&T;’s tutelage, Apple seems to be getting more and more comfortable with crippling its products in unintuitive ways that are designed to suck out more, revenue but instead make customers feel confused and resentful.
Another case in point: the whole, fantastically limiting, ringtone ‘creation’ system. (What if, instead of Nelly Furtado’s latest single, you simply want wildlife sounds, or a recording of your contact’s voice, as a ringtone? Are you completely out of luck if you want to use a non-musical sound of your own, which no major label has ever had a chance to charge you for?)
Everything else just announced is great, though. And I am a little dazed that Apple is bringing out something so viscerally close to the holy grail of an AT&T;-less iPhone, so quickly–and that the prices are all so low.
(Since I have been waiting on an iPhone–and will probably still wait at least until after the January Macworld, when with luck the shape of the whole new product lineup will be clearer–the price drop makes me feel good, not enraged.)
“I was so ready to buy a lot of Beatles albums tonight. I still want the remastered Sgt. Peppers.”
Do you really want to purchase a compressed remaster? The differences will likely be negligible. Hold out for whatever will be released on disc, then rip to iTunes/iPod at your chosen compression rate. We already missed out on the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper’s, so it may not be all that soon at this point.
InTheShelter: what 3 songs do you think are okay? Just curious.
You guys who are griping at the early adopters for being upset about the $200 price cut: kindly shut up.
“We knew price cuts were coming; you guys were stupid for buying early.”
Really? You knew that 8 weeks after the iPhone was released they would drop the price almost in half?
Sure you did.
iPhone owners have the right to be a little upset. Not stark raging mad, but a little. As an owner, it feels a bit like a slap in the face to have such a drastic price reduction this close to launch. Let us complain and get it out of our systems while we save up to buy the next great Apple product.
Show me where ANYBODY has cut the price of a new product by 33% only 68 days after it’s initial release. It flat out hasn’t happened.
Apple absolutely must do something for the early adopters here, or they’re going to alienate a lot of their best customers. Not only did they wait in line for it, they also dealt with AT&T;sometimes taking days to get it activated. And now they’re getting f*cked out of $200 on top of all of that. Apple has to do something to make it right.
Mangina,
Since you are stupid, I wil explain something to you:
“Rape” is something done violently by force and against your will. Tell me, was your decision to become an early adopter of the iPhone violently forced upon you, or was it of your own free will and volition?
Well I for one am going to complain about a $200 price drop – that’s 33% for a product that I bought less than a month ago – I have already send an email to
Apple – hope mine along with another 250,000 or so of Apple’s most loyal customers will make them find some way to reward us – think of it like this – It’s the price of a new nano – oh yes but i have a red one i bought in February – not complaining about that, though
While I am bummed that my 13-day-old iPhone just had a $200 price reduction, I’m very happy to see my Apple stock cover that many times over as it keeps increasing in value. A fair trade, I guess.
Opj…
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iPhone! I want my iPhone NOW! Before it drops under 199€ and everybody has it!
AAPL will rocket even more when the Leopard shows it´s teeth. Good bye Micro$oftie! You are no longer needed!
“…but Apple has a product that’s selling like hotcakes…”
With all due respect, it doesn’t take an MBA to realize that if the iPhone was selling like hotcakes (relative to aapl’s internal projections), they would not drop the price by 33%, sacrificing margin while alienating their most loyal customers.
mw: blood
You may feel that those of us who bought the iphone for $599 are either stupid or whiners BUT apple did give a $200 rebate to those of us who bought aperature early and I don’t know of any other new product they made that they came out with that went down in price by 33% after only two months. So I am disappointed and it will affect my relationship with apple that has lasted since my apple II+ was bought in 1979. Apple if you read this how about sharing a little bit of the profits with us early adopters by giving us a rebate to be spent at apple stores. How about it steve.
Oh… I see. Thank you Oops. I’m so much more enlightened now.
btw suck on this…. ooIoo
“the current line of products makes no sense.”
really?
“why buy the iPod touch, without a hard drive, and not that much cheaper than the iPhone ?”
because the extra money a month isn’t justified if you practically live in a WiFi zone (like i do) and don’t like cell phones anyway?
?why reduce the price of the iPhone by $200 ? that is really a bad sign.”
yeah. bad for palm and RIM!
“i guess new iPhones are on their way, a 16GB model, maybe one with GPS ?”
why not wait a few more months, then release a 16gig for less than the 8 was but more than it is now? if they are already selling well, and the price drop speeds it up, then a cheap upgrade will do even more.
those people who doubted will look stupid in 4-5 years when the iPhone has 30-50% of the cell market wrapped up, but Apple has some smart people on board, and they know what they have is hot. my rest on your laurels and get caught napping when you can always push ahead and take everyone by surprise….
….over and over again.
Dropping the iPhone price $200 is a killer blow against Nokia, Motorola, Samsung … . Oh, and add Verizon to that club. They are f**cked.
The new iPod/iPhone linup is like the old 1927 New York Yankees’ “muderers row.” The competition are just a harem of jailhouse bitches kneeling on demand before their Apple master.
If you felt that the iPhone wasn’t worth the $499 or $599 you paid for it, why did you buy one? And if you did feel it was worth it, then how does a price drop 2 months later change what it was worth to you then? This complaining boggles the mind.
I’ve heard from some sources that the iPhone is (well, was) priced at about 2x – 3x the cost of its components. Of course that doesn’t count Apple’s need to recoup R&D;and software development expenses. There’s probably still room for the price to slide.
Whether or not sales of the iPhone are going as Apple secretly desires is not really the point, since no one knows what their internal expectations are. This could just as easily signify that Apple kept the price unnaturally high at the outset, to temper demand and avoid shortages (or quality corner-cutting) during manufacturing ramp-up. The point is, this major of a price drop should boost sales. Hugely.
Good news: A price drop is very welcome. Competitor’s boardrooms are going to be nervous today as they are losing their profit margins to remain competitive.
Bad news: The iPhone is not selling as well as they hoped meaning a price cut is perceived as needed to spur sales. Sadly it’s not the price but missing or intentionally crippled features that are holding most buyers back. Releasing an official SDK and opening it up would have done a lot more to spur sales.
What the hell is it with The Beatles on iTunes? Just go buy a CD and rip the damn thing….
I hope companies like Shure and Etymotic start coming out with new iPhone headsets (not adaptors; who wants 8′ of cables?). I hate my Apple ear buds. The new Touch iPod, as slim as it is, must use the same recessed headphone jack as the iPhone, so a lot more people are going to be looking to needing a new set or a tinier adaptor.
And again: earlier adopter (I am one) let go of the pricing gripes. We spent the money because we thought it was worth it. Apple might owe something to those that have purchased within the last couple of weeks, but not to those that have had their iPhones since the first week.
I contacted Apple about feeling that I was taken advantage of by my early adoption of the iPhone at $599.00.
They recommended sending in my feedback at:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/
So, I took two minutes and did just that.
“The price for the iPhone itself pales anyway in relation to the cost of the two-year contract with AT&T;.
200 USD give or take – you’ve got to have deep pockets one way or the other.”
That does not take into account the fact that anyone that already had cell phone service on any carrier was already paying $50+ a month. I’m paying the same per month as I was with my previous phone. Except now I have unlimited data. I would guess that anyone that previously had a smartphone of any kind is probably paying the same or less for the iPhone rate plan than they were with their old phone.
3+ months until xmas. more to come? One more thing?
If I were a betting man, and I am, there will be “one more thing”.
Hot need models of the iphone are just around the corner.
I don’t know why I have been laughing so hard for the last 10 minutes reading about the early adopters get screwed of $200. Either the iphone is not selling, or component prices are dropping fast, or expensive new 3G models are on the way because of the European phone company must have 3G.
Apple has Christmas sewn up. The Zune and any new Zunets are toast.
M.W. Certain!
What does the lower price of the iPhone do to Research in Motion? Feedback wanted
The BEATLES SUCK! Who gives a rats ass about them!!!
@tre
i live in a country where contracts between phone manufacturers and carriers are outlawed, so NO i don’t want an iPhone without the phone, especialy if it doesn’t have a hard drive, mail, and iChat (with audio)
i will be able to get the iPhone, without a contract, unlocked, for the new low price, so the iPod touch is completely useless for me
I think they had to drop the price of the iPhone or else the iPod touch would have cannibalized its sales…and they need it to sell like hotcakes to achieve market penetration – especially since they have a piece of the service contracts with AT&T;.
If you drop the price of things, you sell more of them. I’m sure they have run the numbers and they will make more from volume than high margin.
And I don’t care that the price dropped. I wanted one on June 29 and I got one. I knew eventually the price would be lower.
Plus, I just picked up a $299 4gb model for the wife.
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p3
MDNMW: Growth. As in, you ain’t seen growth yet.
The price drop is to capture some of the new iPod customers. For $200 more than a video nano you can purchase an iPhone.
That flash memory price drop has worked wonders. There’s so much more production coming on line that manufacturers wanted to be sure they sold what they could make and offered great deals to Apple who is the biggest customer.
The fifty-something wishing to be thirty-something (fifty years – pah nothing, ask a time lord) should appreciate that The Beatles were just an incremental build upon what had gone before. Sure meditation assisted with some of nature’s finest plants helped but really they were lucky, as some say timing is everything. Wanna see some innovation in music? – there were punk bands in the 1950s but the killer for me was when Mozart got his first electric guitar, boy did he love it and create some great sounds.
As for Sir Paul, he really messed up in an interview a short years back when a bit of honestly slipped in, he said when asked why he continued touring, “for the money”. Really one should have higher aspirations.
This is really no big deal. It is not like there was an upgrade to 3G/broadband. Regardless of the rosy picture of sales, my guess is they are either off the mark and needed to stimulate sales of the iPhone, or they want to clear the inventory in order to release the upgraded 3G/broadband unit at 599.99. The iPhone should have originally been priced closer from 299-399 in the first place, so for those that were early adopters…way to go! The real shame all along is that the iPhone was not unlocked to allow it to function on other cell provider networks, and it did not have a CDMA version. Sales could have been much bigger.
The new iPods look great. Unfortunately there are no built in speakers like the iPhone. The speakers are nice for those moments when those around you might want to listen too. Sometimes the designers just do not get it.
@ shen
yes it makes no sense, the iPod Touch would be the best video iPod ever, but it does not have enough storage space.
the classic has the storage, but not the screen !
Apple must of reduced the cost of production quite a bit for the second run of iPhones
Was it worth $200 to use an iPhone for the past 10 weeks? For me, yes–no complaints.
The people who are really squirming in their chairs now are the competitors who have to deal with a $400 iPhone through the holidays. Apple’s going for market share, plain and simple.
Adios smartphones, doomsday has arrived!
To those people who suggest the iPhone wasn’t selling that well, hence the price drop. Maybe:
1. They’re simply going for market share and beating the high-priced smart phones at their own game. A Blackberry sure looks expensive right now.
2. They have other revenue streams at play. Consider that you can now purchase music via wi-fi and also from Starbucks (wtf?). Not to mention ring tones. Really makes me wonder what other impulse-buy apps they have in the works where you’ll fork over even more money for some product or service.
I think they want to get these products into the hands of as many people as possible – it’s all revenue one way or another. These are huge money printing machines!
As many know, the stock nearly always goes up in the days before a Steve-note and back down afterwards, before recovering and heading back up again a few days/weeks after the event.
It’s a fun roller-coaster ride. Yes, I’m a shareholder and an iPhone owner (having made lots of $$$$ on the shares, I’m not as fussed about the $200 price drop as others are. I’ve been burned by Apple product releases in the past too many times to not realise that buying shares was a much better investment.)
“What does the lower price of the iPhone do to Research in Motion? Feedback wanted”
Most of the technical reviews have compared the iPhone to the Blackberry solely based on the price; a comparison which favours the Blackberry on feature sets alone, but not usability. The lower price means many will now compare the iPhone to lesser models where the advantage is more clear. It also means that competitors will have to drop their prices to remain competitive and if their pockets are not as deep as Apple’s, this will be tough to do. The iPod has been a classic example where Apple has lowered the pricepoint to bolster their product sales and put pressure on the other makers.
In case you hadn’t noticed, Apple plays for keeps. They’re not interested in being “the best of what’s around”. They want to be the best, period. They do this by introducing insanely great products and now pricing them to sell.
The people who are cheap have no excuse.
The people who want better products have no excuse.
Apple is squeezing them from both ends.
(And hey, I made all my points without porn allusions or profanities!)
Replies from Verizon and Blackberry CEO’s??? I didn’t think so. Without a touchscreen, without a real OS and a easy to use interface, without iTunes music store, just what is Blackberry going to do. Verizon CEO, imagine what coulda been. Biggest mistake in history. People at RIM are
literally checking their pants…with no real solution even at the end of the tunnel. You guys blew it! AT&T;might not be very likeable, but at least they knew when to join ’em when you can’t beat ’em. The headlines will try to say that Apple had to drop the price in order to sell more, but the real story is that this Christmas, the rest of the competition is in real trouble.
>>>>>>> For those who just bought their iPhone, can’t you “return” it for a credit if you bought it within 30 days? I think that is Apple’s policy– if the price drops, you can go in and get a credit within 30 days. If so, that would include most of you with iPhones.
I want a $200 iTunes store credit – NOW
If they’d waited 6 months I could understand.
Apple sucks. Bought two iPhones saturday at 599 each! F’n apple drops the price within 2 months of release! Common this isn’t right.
“I hope companies like Shure and Etymotic start coming out with new iPhone headsets (not adaptors; who wants 8′ of cables?)”
I’ve already seen the Shure phones at AT&T;stores.
The first iPod was upstaged fairly quickly by cheaper and bigger. I bought mine the first day for the full price and haven’t regretted it since. The lower prices that followed allowed more people to jump on board.
I got the 8 GB iPhone last month for the old price, still happy with it.
This isn’t new…
Years ago my father stood in line for most of a night to get into a store 50 miles from where he lived because they supposedly had the last shipment of cabbage patch dolls. It was for his first grand daughter. Not only did he get bruised, scraped, and pushed, he paid a higher price just to have it that day. In the following days there were reports of counterfeit dolls and a black market.
A week before Christmas, the supply line loosened and suddenly there were dolls everywhere. When I asked my Dad how he felt about that, he had no regrets and was happy that other children were gonna get one for Christmas.
to each his own. some people bought on day 1 and 2 (me included) knowing the price would drop. when it drops is really doesn’t matter. monmey better spent than the $599 60 gb ipod photo i bought (remember that?). you could still be waiting for the iphone to be $199. if you wait another year you may be able to buy it. the value of the original purchase does not change based on the current price. if that mattered to you, then you’ll forever be unhappy.
most people who don’t like the beatles are more than welcome to their opinion. people have different musical tastes. do you like bluegrass? the difference is no group has resonated with as many people for as long as the beatles. you don’t have to like them, just be happy no one makes you listen to what you don’t want to. that’s why god, i mean steve, made ipods. i have ripped every us album and some euros into my itunes library. listen to a few songs every day. always amazed at the richness in their later music and the boldness of their early.
Maybe they will be introducing the iPhone to Europe at the Paris Expo on September 25. The price drop would be timed just right for that event.
I have an 8gb iPhone. Am I upset? sure. I used a good chunk of my savings to buy that iPhone and while I thought it was worth it. if I had known the price was going to drop that much so quickly – I would have waited. I am not made of money, but I thought it would be worth it and I made the decision. I knew the price was drop – probably with the next G which I thought would be released next year.
The fact is I don’t have a lot of money – in fact I am saving money on the iphone because I got rid of my home phone. and I could have used that money in my Mac fund.
Now waiting for AT&T;to drop their iPhone plans by 33%.
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zachcube,
“thanks apple, screwed again”. Just how many times do you feel that you have been screwed by Apple and in what way? It sounds like you don’t trust them, so why would you make such a large purchase? It sounds to me like you aren’t very sharp buddy. MicroSoft is babbling again about a Zune phone. Maybe you should just stick with them.
To the whiney self important jackasses who believe everyone owes them something:
Get over it. You bought the iPhone for the price it was and that is that. Life is a gamble, you took yours.
For the people who recently bought one(within the return policy time frame)-go back to where you bought it from and ask for the price difference back instead of whining and crying to everyone within “earshot” about how God hates you, Jobs kicked you in the groin, Ives raped your dog and Schilling slapped your grandmother.
I have to agree with earlier poster-a lot of you Apple groupies are whiney bitches.
“I have to agree with earlier poster-a lot of you Apple groupies are whiney bitches.”
Wow. You’re in a club. Aren’t you special.
To those who think Apple groupies are whiny bitches, stuff it. I think anyone who made a purchase this size on ANY product would be a little peeved at a price drop like this one so quickly.
THAT SAID, to those who think Apple owes them a rebate of some kind, get over yourselves. While the price cut is surprising, you made an informed purchase. Life isn’t fair. Apple owes you nothing. A great deal of people (including myself) would have purchased an iPhone on opening day if the prices were $299 and $399. Instead, I waited, and I’m going to go buy one as soon as I’m no longer chained to my desk.
FOR ALL YOU WHINERS
Look, AAPL is down $7.40 right now.
Buy 25 shares of AAPL at this price and you’ll make your $200 back in a week.
Now stop bitching!
Haha…that’s technology for ya!! Pretty soon the iPhone headset will be cheaper than the iPhone itself.
I’ve had my iPhone now for 7 and 1/2 weeks. With the $200 price drop, my bumhole hurts, and I didn’t even get flowers from Steve.
Apple, I’ve learned my lesson. I will never, ever again be an early adopter of any of your products. I’ll sit on my wallet for at least 8 weeks to see if you’re going to devalue my purchase by 1/3rd.
Apple’s most loyal customers, the diehard enthusiasts who read this site and post these comments, have every right to bitch and moan. I’m glad that the iPhone is more accessible now for the mass public, but it would be a show of good faith for Apple to offer SOMETHING to us suckers who supported the product early. They did it for Aperture buyers. While a $200 Apple store credit would be awesome, even a $20 iTunes store credit would let me know that Apple has some consideration for its loyal customers.
Price drops are understandable but not when you just bought it 2 weeks and 4 days ago and it’s only been out for a few months and they cut the price by 33%
I’m definitely going to make a stink.
Amen, Reamed! I too am a July 3rd iPhone buyer. I figured that eventually they would go down in price, but not 1/3 anfter two months! Everything I own is Apple. I even bought an AppleTV day one. Of course I am happy with my iPhone and it is worth $599. I’m not pissed about that, what I am pissed at is the abrupt price drop. I get the feeling that it was all a big money grab to their loyal early adopters.
If you bought your iPhone within the last 2 weeks you can get at least $140 back $200 – $60 return fee.
Unfortunately for me it’s been 2 weeks and 4 days
Wow… Apple discussions iPhone forum are a dangerous place right now.
Over 2200 posts deleted by moderators..
Screaming bloody murder going on over there..
I didn’t see Microsoft cutting the Xbox’s price by 33% after only 68 days on the market. Nor did I see Sony doing that with the PS3. Hell, I’ve never seen ANY company do this before. The early adopters have every right to be pissed off.
Apple should do the right thing and offer a $200 mail-in rebate to everyone that purchased an iPhone between 6/29-9/4.
@nm imprinter
Well I for one am going to complain about a $200 price drop – that’s 33% for a product that I bought less than a month ago.
If any of you had been around back when the Mac IIvi was introduced (October 1992) and discontinued a few months later (February 1993), you’d also remember the flack that Apple caught over it. I would have thought they learned there lesson from it. A ton of people were pissed when their new computer was dumped so quick.
I don’t mind having paid $600 for my iPhone. I even knew that the price would drop (it always does), and assumed it would drop sometime before the Christmas shopping season, but why so soon?
MDN Magic word: “rate”: At this rate, what’ll the price be at Christmas?
The iPhone is the greatest cell phone ever! I would have loved to save the $200.00, but I’ll be happy if they would just add more features to it sooner rather than later. First on my list is the DUN that I had with my Treo. Second would be a scientific calculator. Third would be iChat. I would accept an Apple Store credit though.
Apple Rocks! You guys whine if you want, but the computer world is finally showing promise again. More Macs & Less Windows is better for everyone!
I’m a bit peeved by the iPhone price drop, but not that much. All the same, a poster above convinced me to register my feelings with Apple. I think everyone who is bothered by this should do the same.
Here’s what I sent to http://www.apple.com/feedback:
—
Obviously this isn’t a technical matter, but it’s the only way I know to register an opinion.
I love my iPhone. It’s a technical wonder. However I feel a bit betrayed by the 33% price cut on the phone today. Your most loyal customers are the ones who purchased the iPhone early on. Had I known I could have waited less than two months and saved myself $200 on the purchase of the phone I would have done so. Of course, if I and others had done so this new product may have been less than successful…
Apple is in the enviable position of having an extremely loyal fan/customer base. In a sense we’re an extension of your marketing efforts, because we tell everyone we know how great your products are. I realize you really owe us nothing in return, other than to continue making the best products you can. However, in light of your actions today I know that I will think twice before purchasing a newly released Apple product. You have demonstrated such great respect for your customers in so many ways over the years. I sincerely hope that you can see how someone like me, who represents your most loyal customer base, might be a little put off by such a sudden price drop on a new product. $200 is a lot of money.
Now, having registered my current disappointment, keep up the good work. You really do make amazing products.
Sincerely,
<Darkness>
DAMNIT APPLE… I mean, its nice that people will stop complaining about how much it is. BUT $200 PRICE DROP IN 2 MONTHS….ARE YOU KIDDING ME
My stuff drops in price all the time…but not 2 MONTHS later, usually 2 YEARS later
I feel constipated. I need a Zune.
@Tre
You idiot! If we had the money to throw into stocks, do you think it would be such an issue!
@Samwise
Well, my apologies if that’s the case…
But honestly, if you don’t have at least 3K in the bank or in some type of investments… Maybe you shouldn’t be buying a $600 phone.
Just a thought.
They HAD to lower the price. Too expensive. It may be cool but it was priced too high. Smart move.
@Samwise & @Tre
Now that is the real issue with the whiners, of course some one who buys a $600 phone ( that they actually can’t afford ) will be very upset when the price drops 33% weeks later. Now all their broke ass friends will have one too! Damn! And I’d be pissed too if the credit card bill wasn’t paid off yet when the price dropped!
MDN magic word – known, as in they should have known better than to buy an expensive new toy just to look important
“Don’t act so above it all. You’re talking out your arse.”
Justified – – – Right On.
Ppl on these iPhone backlash boards portraying themselves as ‘smart’ for waiting probably couldn’t hold off on ordering pizza online every night or buying ten year old porn DVDs – therefore they couldn’t even comprehend getting an iPhone early on. Real ‘smart’.
Current iPhone users do need to learn a lesson here though. It stings. It will for a while. Let’s just wait & see for a week or so to see how Mr. Jobs reacts to the backlash. Then – Then we will know what course to take, ie: Canceling that extra iMac for the kitchen or for lil’ sis that doesn’t have one. Or that vehicle-only iPod, or fucking Leopard.
Well I thought I would report back that I called Apple and they are going to credit me back $100 on the iPhone that I purchased online on August the 8th. I am much happier now than I was at noon today. Be nice and try it.
I am livid over Apple’s $200 price drop a month after I bought the iPhone for $599. I feel like an shafted!!
I’m not so sure that the price reduction is a result of poor sales. Early adopters bought… reviews on the product were fantastic. Rather than have iPhone sales lose momentum this will just keep the ball rolling and steam roll competition trying to enter the market place. Apple knows that they have a successful product on their hands. With slim margins it is very risky for the competition to try to enter this market.
I think the price drop is great. Sorry early adopters. I hope you were able to show it off to lots of people because now everybody is going to have one.
Seldom in business do you kill a sister product and cut your margin by 66% on the flagship three months after launch to boost adoption rates… unless you have to. What we saw today was a desperation move.
The other handset co’s are now in deeper trouble than they were before, so this will work out fine in the long run. But imho, today we saw the correction of a big pricing f’up on Apple’s part. Concurrently, lot of customer goodwill went away.
don’t you think you shown enough of your ignorance for one day?
Has anyone heard if it will be possible to use any of the VOIP services (i.e. Vonage) using the iPod touch wifi connection? This is the future of the iphone.
Oh get over it. You’ve never heard that the leading edge was the bleeding edge? How many XP users are waiting a year for Vista to stable? How many people wait until August to buy a car that is now thousands less than just a week previously. Rich people actually buy a two year old car instaed and get it at half the price knowing that it is as good as new and will maintain it’s value for several years.
The price was announced in advance. That was specifically for the early adopters who would weigh the price and be able to brag to everyone that they had an iPhone. Once everyone can afford them no one will look twice.
It’s your money, you’re responsible for it. No one was forced to buy one. Be an adult, realize that you were one of the first and watch your money more closely next time.
And yes, I bought an iPhone early on, no regrets. I’ve been buying electronics and computers for my business for the last twenty years. Early adoption always has a price, but if not for the early adpters, a product goes away or is stagnant.
Oh well, $200 drop in price- got rid of the 4GB iPhone. Sounds like a hedge in economics. Get rid of inventory and production space, fold costs into only 1 model and have lower costs for the 8GB model. Drop the price and sell way more items than before. Perfectly reasonable thing to do, especially if Apple wants to dig into the market and hook a huge anchor around the competition.
Sorry if you paid 599 yesterday, but the whole of Apple will be stronger for the new announcements.
Maybe AAPL is just upset at ATT for their selling abilities and are hoping people will use the extra $200 to pay the $175 fee to move out of Verizon. I know the fee to leave Verizon is the only reason I didn’t buy an iPhone yet…now I think I will get one.
“A Blackberry sure looks expensive right now.”
Ouch yes. at $149 for a Blackberry, or $249 for the Palm Treo 750, or $99 for a Samsung Blackjack.
Those guys are just quaking that the thought of a $399 iPhone.
iPhone has gone from way overpriced to somewhat overpriced.
“What we saw today was a desperation move. “
Exactly right. Apple miscalculated just how many people would pay $600 for a phone. After the fanboys brought, demand clearly dried up and Apple is pulling the one lever they can, pricing.
If you assume approx 250k iPhones in the first few days, then a million in 3 months is only a steady state rate of 250k per month.
Tre is correct. The $599 iPhone should not have been purchased by anyone who couldn’t afford it in the first place.
Look at Samwise for example who (wisely?) points out: “You idiot! If we had the money to throw into stocks, do you think it would be such an issue!” damn pal, go get a second job. YES, you do need to have some money to “throw” into stocks or investments. If $200 is indeed an issue for you you are in a very sad state. Your life is a mess – go fix it, a $200 rebate from Apple isn’t enough to save you.
has anyone just recently purchased the iPhone an is considering returning it, and then buying a new one for $200 cheaper? So I tie a 10% hit, but I purchased two a week ago. That’s $250 + back in my pocket! Hah!
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.
@ SadApple
“If you assume approx 250k iPhones in the first few days, then a million in 3 months is only a steady state rate of 250k per month.”
Try your math again you Numbskull.
Also, I understand why a reduction in price would piss off some. $200 is a lot of money and I hope I get mine back, but do you realize the potential here? Apple is taking the next step in dominating a market over run by windows based apps. I don’t think this was a plan to abuse loyal mac followers… It is a genuine opportunity for a better, mac based era. Go right brain! I can’t wait. I switched to mac last year for a reason.
You fuckin whining faggots stop crying about the 200USD price cut. You’ve got 600USD for a fuckin phone douchebags
what is the cost of the 4gb model? Did that come down as well or is the 4gb $100 more than the 8 till they sell them off?
“Try your math again you Numbskull.”
Try yours fucknuckle. 250k in the first few days then 250k in July and 250k in August and 250k in september equals a million phones. Probably in all reality demand was not as linear as that.
What a terrible new iPod lineup.
Summary:
Shuffle: some color changes, no reason to upgrade.
Nano: Wide screen on a product too small to reasonably play video, no reason to upgrade.
Classic: New case, bigger hard drive, little reason to upgrade.
Touch: Not enough storage capacity. Perhaps a reason to upgrade if you want the world’s biggest iPod nano.
Yawn.
The issue is not that people bought a phone they couldn’t afford. It is that it’s value dropped so quickly (less than two months). I do not want any sort of refund/rebate/credit, I just wanted to vent.
@Tre (the stock freak): I’ll put this in terms even you can understand. Suppose your 25 shares of AAPL dropped by 33% yesterday. How would you feel?
People have mistakenly said that this is the price people pay for being on the cutting (bleeding) edge of technology. I disagree. People that simply have to have the first one of any model don’t get burned in price, they get burned on bugs (remember the Bondi Blue iMac?). I studied the iPhone ever since it was announced and knew it would not be a Rev. A (or B) version. Apple was putting many eggs in the “iPhone basket”, it had to be near perfect. I think it is. They made a promise on the “wow” factor and delivered.
Think of your precious stock taking a dump from $140 to about $94 and then open your mouth.
MDN MW: heard, as in I’ve heard enough from people that fire off at the mouth without putting much thought into what they say. We’re all Apple supporters (yes, even Zune Tang!)
Bad PR move by Apple-screwing over their loyal base. Probably financed by the Starbucks deal-maybe we should boycott both companies as a little thank you for this latest move.
Steve Jobs: At least, provide your initial supporters of iPhone with some free upgrades, or perhaps a free copy of OS 10.5-that should cover the difference.
I could not be happier with Apple right now. Every experience I have had with my iPhone has been a pleasure. I bought a refurbished one about 10 days ago. Bought the least expensive one, 4gb, and paid 399.00. Now I just got a 150.00 dollar rebate which = 250.00 iPhone and I love it. Lots of cool features. BTW can’t tell ANY difference between my refurbished iPhone and a new one.
Thanks Apple=D>
“Bad PR move by Apple-screwing over their loyal base.”
Not really those frigtards will buy Apple stuff no matter how often Steve bends them over and gives it to them. What else are they going to do? After years of preaching admit to their friends they were wrong about Apple and buy a PC or a Zune? Not likely. Steve’s just smart, milking them for all they’re worth.