Forbes today offers “A Brief History Of Tech CEO Apologies” which features Steve Jobs’ “Apple’s iPhone Discount” which Forbes’ awards Jobs’ handling of the apology a grade of “A+.”
Andy Greenberg reports, “In September, Steve Jobs slashed the price of the recently released iPhone by $200. Good news for consumers–except those who had already paid up $600 for the phone. Hundreds of those customers, who had waited in line for hours to buy Apple’s wonder-gadget at the steeper price, sent angry e-mails to Jobs. Jobs responded less than a day later. Writing in a statement on Apple’s Web site that he’d read every e-mail, he apologized and offered a $100 coupon to all iPhone owners. That solution, says Randy Pitzer, a technology public relations specialist with Edelman, was a master stroke: ‘Essentially he turned a crisis into an opportunity to bring more customers into Apple’s stores'”
Full article here.
Or maybe it was planned all along.
I totally agree with MDN’s take.
From the slideshow:
“All told, the XBOX’s quirks cost Microsoft $1.15 billion, by the company’s own accounting.”
Or as Steve Ballmer likes to call it, “One stupid, f$%^ing mortgage payment. Oh well, let’s make another useless version of Vista to cover it.”
Yup. Apple looked good, and because it’s a store credit, that $100- only cost $70 and resulted in free publicity. More or less a win-win.
sometimes we forget that all that happened was Apple valued its customer more than its own plan
In retrospect we may like the idea of steve planned it all along, but I think what was more impressive is that a company saw that the had a miss-step and corrected it.
Most companies would not have done that
my 2 cents
Steve J. better not cry wolf again.
“Or maybe it was planned all along.”
Which would take his genius level above A+!
Another brilliant move by Steve.
I’m not gay or anything but if somebody forced me to sleep with a dude, it would either be Steve Jobs or Mario Lopez.
macbones, $70 is about the maximum possible cost. I personally picked up iWork ’08… the DVD and box probably cost Apple about a dollar.
It probably was planned all along, but it still wasn’t the smartest thing in the world to hose his best customers. I still will definitely think twice in the future before I ever buy another Apple product again at the time it’s released. But oh well, I got a copy of Leopard for $16 out of the deal anyway.
MDN absolutely nailed this one.
Problem remains that only a few actually know what was going on with this stroke of masterful marketing. The grin on Steve over this will never fade.
The iPhone ACTUALLY costs you near $1400 when you factor in the carrier kickbacks to Apple.
It has been calculated the actual cost to make a iPhone is around $300.
Yes you are!
My credit card company, AMEX, threw in a “good customer” credit of $100, as well, so I made out even better.
Pete, calculated by who? The same people who reckoned that OS X costs apple $6 per machine sold and who never factor in any other costs other than raw materials?
@Pete– That is money you would be paying for any service plan with any phone. The cost is to AT&T;, not the iPhone owner.
Yup, having the credit out there caused me to shop at the Apple Store this Christmas instead of MacMall or OWC. And it wasn’t a trivial purchase either — I’m sure my niece is going to love her new iMac.
@R2
We all are. Some admit it, some deny it. Some engage under constrained circumstances (gunpoint, prison), others engage more freely. As Truman Capote said, “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
Steve-O: “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Mr. T: “Yeah, I pity the fool who buys a Crackberry.”
@R2
what about also sleeping with Zune Tang?
“what about also sleeping with Zune Tang?”
I think the joke goes like this:
“Have you been sleeping with Zune Tang?”
“Not a wink.”
davecc,
I’ve slept with Zune Tang’s sister – Pune Tang – if that counts for anything.
Forbes must be grading on a curve. C- for Sony’s rootkit disaster!!!!!
And what’s with Forbes thinking that I can’t turn the pages myself. Apparently their website is for speed-readers only. (Yes, I know you can slow it down.)
I forgot to mention the staggering amount of bad press Shepherd Jobs took, showed how blind the sheep are to his evilness.
Don’t knock the Zune Tang. he preaches the truth.
Apple is Microsoft – in sheep’s clothing.
> Apple is Microsoft – in sheep’s clothing.
Microsoft is no longer “Microsoft – in sheep’s clothing.” Microsoft is now the “sheep” (prey) to Apple.