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?
>> Maybe MS should start giving Zunes away to the victims of Hurricance Katrina
What? And make their suffering even worse? “
Sorry, that was uncalled for. (Actually, didn’t MS offer a “free” year of MS services/software to SMBs in New Orleans? The catch: They had to sign a three year contract. Now that… I’m speechless.
My take on all of this is on my blog. <a href=”http://www.applesource.us/”>
Sorry, here’s the link. http://www.applesource.us/
Synthmeister said, “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.”
Microsoft would get sued if they tried to give brown Zunes to Katrina victims.
Heck , what’s $60,000,000 between friends.
They’ll time the rebate on the day they release Leopard.
Kerr..ching !! It’s only money and if Apple gives it back you’ll only return the favour and give it back again.
An imaginary August conversation in a conference room in Cupertino:
Marketing Guy: How much should we spend on commericals telling people the iPhone is now a great deal at $399?
Jobs: Screw that! We will just announce a lower price, let all the fanboys and early adopters make a ruckus, let the media write a crapload of articles about the ruckus, then, with all the advertising money we saved, give early adopters a $100 credit.
Marketing Guy (slapping his hand on his forehead): BRILLIANT!
Just a theory.
I spoke earlier to this topic. I thought that maybe a 50 itunes certif would be good although not expected. I think that Steve has responded above and beyond the call. My father and I ran a men’s clothing store from roughly 1985-88. Our cash register was an Apple IIe, running point of sale and tracking inventory for 6 stores on an 12 megabyte hard drive. We updated each system nightly via a 300baud modem. That’s when I started following Apple.
It was only during the non Steve Jobs years that I gave up on Apple. Since Steve has been back I have renewed my interest in Apple and bought many ipods and computers. Fortunately, I also put my faith in them through their stock at $40 before the split at $80. I don’t have loads of cash but I still put away a few $$ every week and continue to buy a share or two at a time. This is the kind of company that has just scratched the surface of what is possible. The more phones they sell the more Macs they sell, the more music and video content they sell.
I think they have done everyone a favor in this instance. They did right by their biggest fans and they did right to the stockholders by proving that they are good to their customers and that by being good to their customers they will grow more customers and more revenue.
I would hate to be an executive at any consumer electronics maker that is not Apple. The game is on baby. I just wish that Apple made automobiles. They would work right and use the latest technology to give consumers what they want in a vehicle wether it was high fuel economy (Nanobile) or to carry all their stuff (Ipodmobile classic) with clickwheel steering of course.
Thanks Steve. I am gonna put my $100 on that creepy green nano so you are gonna get another 100+ from me.
Weasel words.
People should get their full $200 overcharge back and compensation. I’m starting a class action suit, $2,000,000 per user compensation claimed, I’m only claiming half of that because I never bought an iPhone but I was subjected to all the media hype and subsequent whining which caused me great anxiety, stress, distress and embarrassment as I couldn’t afford $599 but could have afforded $399, not that I’d have bought a fake smartphone anyway.
On top of all that all those MAC lemmings that saw the light and swore never to buy a MAC product again will go back to being sheep. This is a bad day for fairness and justice in the world.
@ The 84 Mac Guy
BRILLIANT!!!
Of course, those that were complaining about all the “whiners” shouldn’t be eligible for the $100 credit. After all, it was the whining that got Apple to do this. That is why we complain about these types of things, not because we hate Apple but because we want them to do the right thing.
Bad precedent.
Just my $0.02
“Stock has dropped about $2.00 since this announcement..”
No it hasnt. And even if it had, the drop wouldnt have had anything to do with this announcement.
“We have done the impossible and that makes us mighty.”
Fair enough, Steve!
This is the difference between Apple and all the other companies. It’s a community, a conversation, a two way street. We are on the same TEAM. Steve and Apple Co. continue to listen to their users in order to develop the best product ever. Not to mention they use their own products! The strategy of creating the hardware to run their outrageous software is going to pay off over the next 5 years. I was an early iPhone adopter (Jun 29th), I would of liked some money back; but also understood seizing the upcoming holiday opportunity and the fact Apple has to be lowering their costs as very hot iPod touch uses the same Build of Materials (practically). The fact they have done this is amazing and appreciated.
Steve- you made the right decision AND you exceeded my expectations. I’ll be loyal forever. Thanks!
PS: For anyone who thought $200 was the end of the world let me tell you that after spending 4 hours installing a label printer as a shared device on Windows Server- the advantages of the Macintosh environment – priceless.
There you go !!
Apple never fails you, whether you are a fan boy or not !!!
David Sylvian,
You said, “We early adopters should receive the $200 break. After all, it is us loyal customers that made iPhone a success”
I used to be a frequent early adopter, and not just for Apple products. But whenever I slapped my credit card down to buy the Latest Thing in technology I always thought of it as a donation. That’s right, for me it was like when you give money to the World Wildlife Fund and in appreciation they send you a sticker with their logo on it so you can show off that you’re a good person, except with tech your reward is a little fun and bragging rights.
With tech you give them some extra cash and you get to have a shiny gizmo a few months before everyone else, buggy and unfinished though it may turn out to be. But in return for gambling on them, and for making a donation to help them pay for their R&D;, I never got a check in the mail. Or even a store credit.
Steve is a class act.
LOL…. you little cry babies are now happy. Instead of arguing and screaming about the lack of features, you cry about the price drop. Oh well you get your 100 bucks, guess what, your just putting it back into Apple hands. LOL
This is exactly why I use macs and have done for 16+ years.
Apple appreciated its customers.
That letter is one that will never come from Microsoft – regardless who runs the Dinosaur.
@Stockboy
“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????”
Don’t you worry… it will return to it’s upward track. AAPL is in a super hot position right now across the board – iPhone, iPods, Macs, Software, etc. I’ve never seen it this good and I don’t doubt there will be some record-breaking quarters announced soon. Hold onto that stock for another couple years (or even more)… you won’t be disappointed. I easily made enough profit to purchase several iPhones this year.
Liberal Commies! This is not pure capitalism, give nothing.
now stop complaining…
i expect my apple stock to take yet another dump shortly…
Hope all the crybabies are done crying now….
to those suggesting that they get a credit card rebate and the in store credit – from the open leter…
“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”
MDN word is way, as in there probably is no way around this. Either take the full rebate your card gives you, or the in store credit.