RadioShack, Target, and Best Buy Offer Deals on the iPhone 5

Refurbished is the way to go. Got the $99 black Friday deal from AT&T ($199 for my 32GB) for my wife and I. Just received them today and they look and work great

MacRumors said:

The iPhone 5 doesn't go on sale often, but three retailers are currently offering a holiday discount.

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So there's no change in price on the contract's bloated monthly payments?

Cheaper to buy it unlocked directly from Apple and get a nice $30-$50 plan from T-Mobile. The savings will pay off the phone before the year is out.

Because this is such a gigantonormous price difference everyone will scream and fight and half the country will line up infront of RadioShack.

BornAgainApple said:

Refurbished is the way to go. Got the $99 black Friday deal from AT&T ($199 for my 32GB) for my wife and I. Just received them today and they look and work great

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You save a couple hundred bucks on the phones yet you'll spend thousands of dollars over the next two years just to use them.

apples fault

I love apple just as much as the next guy on this site but I think they are the reason why the phone plans are so absurdly high. Along with the other phone makers out there. Think about it apple is charging the phone companies the full cost of the phone a little over 600 and there mark up is absurd. But it doesn't matter to apple since they know the phone companies will never charge more than 200 for the phone. The only way for the companies to make money is the charge you extremely high fees to use the phone.

Im not blaming any one company but apple definitely has a hand in the high prices of cellular service.

apfeljonas said:

Because this is such a gigantonormous price difference everyone will scream and fight and half the country will line up infront of RadioShack.

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I see something beyond this. As iPhone 5 is the latest and the greatest, I see it as a very early discounts to something that is supposedly in very high demand. Is iPhone's shine dimming, I hope not.

Why offer a rebate on a phone that is supposedly selling like hotcakes? The iPhone 5 has been on the market for less than 3 months and supplies have been tight per Apple's website. What gives?

Jaredly said:

I love apple just as much as the next guy on this site but I think they are the reason why the phone plans are so absurdly high. Along with the other phone makers out there. Think about it apple is charging the phone companies the full cost of the phone a little over 600 and there mark up is absurd. But it doesn't matter to apple since they know the phone companies will never charge more than 200 for the phone. The only way for the companies to make money is the charge you extremely high fees to use the phone.

Im not blaming any one company but apple definitely has a hand in the high prices of cellular service.

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cell phones with data plans are the same now as 5 years ago.
except unlimited plans are getting sunsetted.
If anything the carriers are having to spend a ton to update their networks to carry all the game, email, facetime and internet traffic in addition to the voice traffic they were designed for.

I guess once they are able to keep them in stock they need to lower the price a bit.

Very simple. This is how carriers are supposed to work. AT&T offering a discount means they are trying to remain sold out. Simply put, apple upped supply, meaning the carriers have stock. They are in the business of selling plans. Discounting the phone with a plan brings in customers from other carriers. I use Verizon. Verizon charges much more for an upgrade with the iPhone 5, yet they are still selling like hoecakes.

Carriers compete on prices, since they offer similar services, quality aside (which varies by location). Apple has been sold out for nearly 3 months. Holiday season is coming up. I expect them to be sold out very very soon. Sold out for 5 months. They had been producing about 200k daily for 6months ( since the beginning of July), implying they made about about 200k x 150 days = 30million. + Production during December and January of 300k into January 24th = likely production of 40million with potential for a upper bar of 50-70million if they were able to ramp up production to 250k-300k daily as they had hoped for initially.

osx11 said:

You save a couple hundred bucks on the phones yet you'll spend thousands of dollars over the next two years just to use them.

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Perhaps, but with the two $45 monthly Straight Talk plans I was looking at, for a duration of two years, the difference is actually negligible:

Straight Talk with two unsubsidized iPhone 5's: $3,560
Present 2-year subsidized AT&T Contract with two refurbished iPhone 5's: $3,660

Granted, I don't get unlimited minutes/text/data with the AT&T plan, but I don't text much (except to the wife via iMessage) and I've never gone over the 2GB limit. So for $100, I'm getting 4G coverage in most areas I travel to and don't have to deal with the hassle of porting my numbers to yet another carrier (I was with VZW for many years, but no service at the house).