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?
Hurry Up Apple.. give us Leopard so this will be dust in the wind!!!…
I LOVE my iPhone and didn’t care if there was a rebate because the $200 is SO FAR gone and the benefits of using it for a month has been and still is worth more…
I just HATE the bashing on yahoo finance board ripping this to shredds and making up rumore about a Apple boycott…
Live Long and Prosper!
Loyal Apple Customer and Stock Holder for YEARS!!!
HURRY UP STEVE!!!!!!! LOL
Keep on fighting the good figh,t people. And don’t let these anti-whining prick jobs shut you down. We early adopters made the iPhone the success that it became, and we deserve something for going out on a limb and getting REEMED. As of yesterday, I feel like I spent a drunken night in the Crisco wing of a Turkish prison.
A lifelong boycott sounds great to me. We’re gonna shut CrApple down! Can you say, “Buh hye, Apple?”
shit, i want my money back on my titanium laptop. i bought it five years ago and it’s now obsolete. you early adopter whiner idiots can shove it. you get it firsthand you pay the price.
Steve jobs deserves the Nobel Peace prize for this one..!
Look people, a $100 “store credit” is not going to do it. I want my full $200 back. My brother is a lawyer and I’ll be speaking with him tonight about a lawsuit against Apple Inc.
Heh, good luck. You’ve already spent way more than $200 in legal fees. A GOOD lawyer will charge his own family, without blinking.
While your at it, sue every other company that ever did a surprise price cut. Should be a great payback if you can pull it off.
It takes a real man and a respectable company to go out of their way to please the voices. Good move.
Wow… this iPhone SNAFU has really divided Apple users into two camps.
Those who got ripped off of $200, and the rest who didn’t and are laughing at those who did.
Ok… I understand the whole credit ordeal but how are they going to identify the early adopters to whom to give the $100 credit (myself included)? I dont have my receipt and Im sure thousands of others don’t either. The letter clearly stated EVERY iphone customer yada yada yada… hmm any thoughts?
Yesterday: Steve = Devil
Today: Steve = God
Some people would sell their soul for $100
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@MPC Guy
I think it’s more those who THINK they got ripped off $200, and those who are laughing at those who think they did.
I bought early, I didn’t get ripped off a dime, and I have no intention of using the $100 credit.
As I said elsewhere, I bought a IIsi 30 days before the price dropped $1000, and I didn’t complain a bit. And that’s when I was making $7.25/hr. That’s life, and them’s the breaks. You don’t like it… oh well.
Unless you are a card carrying member of the entitlement generation, and then you whine and whine and whine and sue and do your part to ruin America bit by bit.
I am so glad they did this because I am saving for a new Mac (which I told them when I left feedback) and I chose to use part of that savings for the iPhone. I had decided if I didn’t get an iPhone right away, I would make myself wait until I got the computer. so I am happy.
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I think a 100 rebate is reasonable, anymore would have been excess (and could have screwed up their image) and less could have been kinda demeaning (yeah we know you are upset, here’s $5) – this shows that they appear (I can’t say whether they actually do or don’t) to care about their loyal customers and how they feel about things.
@MPC Guy,
You total sissy whiner. You and all the other whiners are just begging for a total ass kicking, and I’d love to give it to you. Slap you like a bitch, and then keep you for a night in my Turkish prison for boys.
Funny, but I always make my posts with an available e-mail address… because I’m not a PUSSY, you poser.
$100 Store Credit – Apple markup = $40 * (10% of 900,000 who take the discount) = $3,600,000 loss to Apple
The image of being fair to customers combined with all the free advertising = PRICELESS.
Apple never loses on a deal, even when it seems that they will.
This is very good of Steve & co. I was stung by the price drop, but figured I’d bought it at the more expensive price point, so that was that. This really is above and beyond what they had to do–but it was the right thing to do, so THANKS!
BTW, I wonder if they’ll be emailing all of us who bought an iPhone and registered it with them? They have our reg info, so it should be easy enough for them to do….
>Galloway wrote: I think it’s more those who THINK they got ripped off $200
Some yield to Apple’s every whim, some don’t. You’re set in your beliefs and it works for you. Great.
However, you ruin your credibility when you form unfounded criticisms of people. Entitlement cards? Blasting a generation of people? Whiners?
Yikes. Your willingness to yield to Apple shouldn’t be applied to everyone. In fact, that sort of complete yielding to such a greatly innovative company is harmful to them.
There’s no need to personally attack people either. I’ve worked a job (sometimes 2) since the age of 14. Worked full-time throughout college as well. Graduated about a decade ago and working hard for my money. Yet, you don’t see me bashing anyone because they feel ripped off of $200.
Step off the high-horse already.
—–
>do your part to ruin America bit by bit.
Excuse me! Bending over every time someone says so is the worst thing anyone can do… American or otherwise.
Wow… you really do need to step off the high-horse. Yikes. What an amazingly arrogant and outrageous view you have of the world.
That’s because I’m entitled to my arrogance, you social retard! If you don’t like it, get out of my country!
@MPC Guy
Despite what the idiot posing as me was trying to imply, I was not trying to personally attack you or anyone else. I am certainly not the first person on these boards in the last day to call those complaining about the price reduction “whiners”.
You yourself implied that you were laughing at those who feel they were ripped off… although you were implying that we WERE ripped off. I was pointing out that not all early adopters of the iPhone believe they were ripped off, including myself.
I’m also not yielding to anyone or anything. Apple has a price drop policy of, I believe, 14 days. This is not at all uncommon. I bought before that, so I’m out of luck. So what? Prices on… well, on everything, really, drop all the time… it’s a fact of life. Maybe they don’t drop as much as the iPhone did after as short a period of time… but they often do. Hell, when was the last time anyone on this board bought a car for the sticker price? Does getting it for less than someone else mean the “someone else” got ripped off? Or how about buying right before the model year changes? Lots of examples have been posted on these several threads here, so I won’t bother recounting more.
I disagree with you that my crisicisms of the people complaining are unfounded. Unfounded in whose opinion? Unfounded perhaps in the opinion of some, but not of others. As for “blasting” a generation of people, well, they call it the “Me Generation”, do they not? Of course it doesn’t include everyone from that generation. Generalities do not work for that very reason.
But tell me how someone like “justified” — and I apologize if I’m referring to the impostor and not the “real” “justified” — saying they are going to start a class action suit against Apple because of the price drop is not a heinous perversion of what the American justice system is supposed to be about… getting actual justice?
I kind of expected this move yesterday. Yeah, yeah, I know some dolt out there will tell me I’m just making this up for some assinine reason, but really, it made the most sense.
Apple knew this was coming and they decided to grab a ton of press with it. I’m sure that they knew how much the Apple fan base (jeez that sounds weird, like they’re some kind of rock band) would hoot and hollar at the first anouncement and then rejoice and once again sing Apple’s praises at the second.
Which reads better:
Apple today slashed the price of the iPhone $200.00 and oh by the way they also gave the people who already bought one a $100.00 store credit.
or
Day 1: Apple today slashed the price of the iPhone $200.00!
Day 2: After “listening” to their loyal customers, Apple has decided to generously “reward” these early adopters of the iPhone with a $100.00 rebate.
The first one just makes Apple sound like they just realized that they were charging too much for their product. The second one makes for high drama and great press.
Nice move Steve & Co.
And thanks for the $100.00
gonna that $100 and buy my girlfriend an iPhone for $299. Not bad Steve, not bad at all.
I’m so sick of all the whiners on the various sites today complaining about a price drop! So what if you bought an iPhone at $599. It was a price you were happy to pay at the time for a product you wanted. Period.
With technology, prices are always dropping and features are always improving. Yes, it was a quicker than usual drop in price. So what. If Apple’s costs of materials and production have dropped due to sales volumes or new suppliers, and they are willing to lower the price on a high demand product this quickly, then that makes Apple a hero in my book. Plus, with the price drop, sales will increase even faster and that will spur on even faster and better innovations in the next version. Which of course will then lead to more complaints at the time when someone is not happy that they bought version one 15 days before version two is released. Shut up!
If it weren’t for early adopters paying high prices – which cover initial research and development costs – to own the newest products, a 42″ Plasma TV would still cost $8,000 and a PC or Mac would still cost $5,000 and run at 25mhz!
Galloway…
Boy, these internet forums can sure be problematic when trying to have a civil trade.
You know what… I’m just going to end my participation in this particular thread and thank you for sharing your ideas. We may not agree on this issue, and I imagine a bunch of others in the future.
BUT… I imagine we’d be civil about whatever trades we have, whether in agreement with each other or otherwise.
Shame some of us on this board add a bunch of noise and insults.
So as one fellow iPhone owner to another, an Apple customer to another, one American to another, heck… just as one man to another… Have a nice day, friend. All the best…
MPC Guy
@MPC Guy
I have to share this, since it reminds me so much of “discussions” on this board: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1771556
Hope to have some truly civil exchanges in the future.
Cheers!
magic word : “life”
@justified
I understand there are very effective medications now for those with conditions like yours.