Markoff reports, “Steven P. Jobs, the chief executive, said in an interview after the announcement that Apple would have been able to hit its publicly declared target of a million iPhones sold in the United States by the end of this month, even without a price cut. ‘We’re a high-volume manufacturer, and we’re pretty good at getting costs down,’ Mr. Jobs said. ‘It’s very clear we have a breakthrough product on our hands, but it’s also clear that many can afford it, some can’t. We’d like to make it affordable to even more folks going into this holiday season.'”
Markoff reports, “Mr. Jobs said that if the company had waited past the Christmas buying season to reduce prices it would have been forced to delay for another year reaching a broader consumer market. ‘We’re feeling like being more aggressive,’ he said.”
More in the full article here.
In an interview yesterday with CNBC’s Jim Goldman, Jobs said, “We want to get more aggressive for the holiday season. So, you know, we know a lot of people want an iPhone. For some, it’s out of their price range. We want it to be affordable for more people as we head into the holiday season. We’ll launch the iPhone in Europe next quarter…. [In] Asia, probably 2008. I think we’ll start to see it in some countries in Europe next quarter.
Full interview transcript here.
Jobs also spoke with USA Today’s Jefferson Graham and Edward C. Baig:
USA Today: What do you say to customers who just bought a new iPhone for $599? Sorry?
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.
USA Today: To do this, are you taking a hit on costs? Or have prices really come down?
Jobs: We’re in high-volume manufacturing, and we’re pretty good on the costs side. We’re also willing to be more aggressive. We think we have a real winner, and customers love the iPhone. The product’s been extremely well accepted; we want to put the pedal to the metal. A holiday season is approaching; we’d have to wait another year for another one.
More in the full interview here.