Apple CEO Steve Jobs has posted an open letter to all iPhone customers on Apple’s website. Here it is verbatim:
To all iPhone customers:
I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale. After reading every one of these emails, I have some observations and conclusions.
First, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to ‘go for it’ this holiday season. iPhone is so far ahead of the competition, and now it will be affordable by even more customers. It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone ‘tent’. We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that this holiday season.
Second, being in technology for 30+ years I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always change and improvement, and there is always someone who bought a product before a particular cutoff date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever. This is life in the technology lane. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you’ll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon. The good news is that if you buy products from companies that support them well, like Apple tries to do, you will receive years of useful and satisfying service from them even as newer models are introduced.
Third, even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone, and even though the technology road is bumpy, we need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price. Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these.
Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple’s website next week. Stay tuned.
We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple.
Steve Jobs
Apple CEO
Source: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/openiphoneletter/
Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. – Steve Jobs, June 12, 2005
Above and beyond the call of duty? The squeaky wheel gets the grease? Insanely great or greatly insane? Too little, too late? The foundation of justice is good faith? I love it when a plan comes together? Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you’ll be criticized anyway; you’ll be damned if you do and damned if you don’t? The customer is always right? It was preordained? Played like a fiddle? That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong? Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right; decide on what you think is right and stick to it? The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing; if you can fake that, you’ve got it made? If life were fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead?
Hey, we’ve got hundreds of ’em. What’s your take?
A blood FAIR and obviously very APPLE move.
The only company on the planet to teach all others how to deal with consumers.
Steve – you are amazing!!!!
dd
*sniff* I love you again Steve. Thank you for acknowledging that your most fervent supporters.
That should dampen the mass reaction of “I won’t be shopping at Apple again anytime soon.” Or, “I won’t be buying iLife ’08 / iWork ’08 / OS X 10.5 Leopard” etc…
Wow. Just wow! The free publicity alone will pay for this move.
My goodness, Apple has been feeding off this iPhone frenzy since January and now it’s gonna sustain them for the rest of the year!
We are not worthy!
And all MS can do is offer a measly $50 rebate on the Zune? Now MS not only looks retarded but stingy as well. Maybe MS should start giving Zunes away to the victims of Hurricance Katrina or global warming or trans fat or something.
Stock has dropped about $2.00 since this announcement…I lost more in stock price than this rebate….
Thanks!…..
Steve – where is the make up for the stock price drop????
Boo,hoo,hoo….
Store credit = come in to the store to spend it.
Steve, you magnificent son of a bitch.
now folks are more likely to buy Leopard than “borrow” it
I’m glad that happened so quickly. I was getting tired of hearing so much whining! Now that you have a $100 store credit, you will go into the Apple store and spend that $100 and so much more. Smooth move on the part of Apple. Give back a little, gain a lot more in good will, in-store traffic, good pr!
MW=nation
Who in this nation won’t want an iPhone now?
If people buy Leopard who wouldn’t have done so otherwise,the credit is less to the bottom line than it actually appears.
Wall Street has it all wrong. The stock has lost over 1 Billion since the announcement but all they did was give a few million back to their most loyal customers and get another day’s worth of publicity tomorrow. Brilliant.
w00t
New nano or Apple bluetooth headset???
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This is why i am a “fanboy”… what other company takes care of its customers like that!!
I would wait in line 15+ hours all over again!!!
Thanks Steve
What is truly awesome is how this is all running on internet time. And it shows leadership in that a decision was made quickly. Boom
I bought an iPhone day 1. And never felt that a rebat was necessary. I bought the item at a price I felt was reasonable for what I was getting when I was getting it. I had decided on purchasing the iPhone immediately after walking out of the Keynote in January.
That said this is a good public relations move for Apple and for their base. It does create a certain sense of entitlement though and that may bite Apple in the future.
I guess you can’t please everyone. I am sure there are people that will complain that it is ONLY a store credit.
MDN Word – Likely as in It’s “likely” there is an iPod Nano in my wife’s future. Or maybe I’ll buy her the touch and take back my old iPod 5G, so I can use it can have it as a backup and for file storage.
Hmmmm decisions, decisions.
Despite all my bitching and complaining, I feel very satisified with this.
Thank you Apple, Thank you Steve. You have restored my confidence in you!
Mike
>> Maybe MS should start giving Zunes away to the victims of Hurricance Katrina
What? And make their suffering even worse?
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This is a good move by Apple, and thank-you.
Phew! I was afraid that Apple might not find a way to stay in the headlines for the next couple days.
Wall Street won’t appreciate this due to the impact on short-term revenue, but it is a brilliant move by Apple. It will build loyalty with new customers, and give consumers who are contemplating the purchase of Apple products greater confidence in the brand. The long-term benefits to Apple will be worthwhile.
C1, ditto and well put. Classy move. I’ll stop mocking your turtleneck now, Steve.
Leopard will cost me $29 + tax.
Boy, did Apple handle this badly! Glad they did the right thing by their most loyal customers (which they really didn’t have to), but they had to know before yesterday the tsunami of negative reaction would be coming.
smart
I’m going to write and complain if I can’t apply the $100 to the cost of the iMac I bought 2 weeks ago!! Kidding.
Actually, I may take the credit along with the coupon from the iPod class action settlement that will expire soon and go buy myself an Apple TV.
Thanks you apple….we can go back to making out now….
slobber slobber grope slobber slobber
Ha! More free marketing for Apple and the iPhone. Everyone had stories this morning about the iPhone price cut and whether it was fair or not. Now, everyone will have more stories later today and tomorrow about the $100 store credit.
Slick move
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Geez, but SJ is a friggin’ genius. I’d bet my lost dollar that he had this all typed up before yesterday’s announcement. What a ringmaster.
Steve: “TVH… we cool?”
TVH: “Yeah Steve, we cool.”
I have to admit… I was pretty pissed. But honestly, would any other company do this? I don’t think so.
Steve met the iPhone users in the middle… and that’s good enough for me.
Steve gives me a hundred and I’ll go into an Apple Store and end up spending a thousand. Smooth move, Steve.
For me, the money wasn’t the issue. What hurt was that Apple’s move made their most fervent supports open to ridicule: “Idiots” “Sheep” “Ha Ha, you paid $200 more…boy are you stupid.” The $100 gift is a cooling balm to my reddened and embarrassed fanboy face.