iPhone de-value?

iphonehype said:

So....

I have bought my iPhone 4/4s/5 SIM from Apple...costing £600

My friends and everyone are now getting iPhones, and getting them free on contracts. I remember network providers never discounted the iPhone price now if your on a 24 month contract @ £36 per month you can have the phone for free instead of the £129.....

Now is it me or the value or the luxury of having this amazing iPhone is no longer there?

Click to expand...

they could have just got a loan to cover the £600/£129........ oh wait.... they have

also.. £36 x 24 = £864

you don't say which phone they are getting...
sim free cheapest from apple are
iP4 £319
iP4s £449
iP5 £529

so that leaves the network getting

£545 or £22/month
£415 or £17/month
£335 or £13/month

even the £13 a month left to the network on the iP5 will cover a cheap sim deal
http://giffgaff.com/goodybags/10pound-goodybag


personally i'm paying the £36 a month and paid some up front, but for me it worked out cheaper than buying sim free!

iphonehype said:

Now is it me or the value or the luxury of having this amazing iPhone is no longer there?

Click to expand...

Perhaps thinking of the iPhone as a luxury item is the issue - its just a phone, a great phone but a phone nonetheless.

I'd buy whatever phone that best fits my needs and the iPhone does that quite well. I personally don't look to choosing which phone based on status symbol.

So what, you think they should still sell original tech for the same price as new tech? Pretty much EVERY consumer product drops in price over time, gaming consoles, computers, TVs...I could continue but I think you get the point. I'm also not sure about assigning value because something is more expensive, Monster cables alone should tell you that's a terrible idea.

maflynn said:

Perhaps thinking of the iPhone as a luxury item is the issue - its just a phone, a great phone but a phone nonetheless.

I'd buy whatever phone that best fits my needs and the iPhone does that quite well. I personally don't look to choosing which phone based on status symbol.

Click to expand...

Agreed. Buy what fits your needs and budget and don't worry about what other people do.

iphonehype said:

Now is it me or the value or the luxury of having this amazing iPhone is no longer there?

Click to expand...

do they have nice cars?

Apple pretty much moved past the "luxury" benefit of owning an iPhone years ago. Now, the value of an iPhone increases due to the network effect. That is, the more people are using iOS devices, the greater benefit people get from it.

Now, the more people use iPhones, the larger the ecosystem. Your friends having iPhones means you can use iMessage and FaceTime with them. More users makes it more attractive (and profitable) for developers to make quality apps. There are more choices in accessories, and they can be bought in more places. Other companies make products that interact with iOS devices because it's profitable to them.

If the iPhone remained an extremely expensive luxury item that few people could obtain, all of these things would be more limited, or perhaps nonexistent. The inherent value wouldn't be in the ecosystem, but in the fact that I and a handful of other people have something to hold in our hands and brag about. Kinda like the I am Rich App, which cost $999.99 and did nothing except appear on your iPhone, and allowed you to brag that you spent $999.99 on basically nothing, simply because you could.

To me, having the network effect-type of value is a lot better than having something few other people have. If iPhones were still luxury items, all I'd really be able to do with it is be smug about having something with features I can't really use, because few other people have them.

Is it worth £600 (currently US$909.02)? Well, that's up to you really. I'm not sure I'd pay £600. $600, sure, that's how much I paid for my iPhone 5, and I think it's worth every penny.

iphonehype said:

My friends and everyone are now getting iPhones, and getting them free on contracts.

Click to expand...

So your friends have contracts that are restrictive as far as what monthly plan they can get and you are a free man, do anything you want. That's the price you pay for an unsubsidized phone. U can even re-sell it outright and they can't.

You made the proper research before purchase, that an unsubsidized phone suit you better right?