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AT&T Begins Selling $99 (Refurbished) iPhone
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Yeah, no doubt. They may have to lower their rates when the Blackberry and Android phones pick-up the pace on the iPhone.
The next iPhone needs to widen the gap a bit but how is a mystery.
This whole thread is based on the idea "the iphone is cheaper now" - please discuss. What kind of amazing insight did you expect?
At those prices, you may as well get a brand new one for $199 (8GB) or $299 (16GB) and then get the 1 year warranty.
I'm not happy with AT&T's policies either. My wife wants an iPhone, but because we opened our family account in February, she's not entitled to the $199 price for the 8GB. She would have to pay $399 for the 8GB iPhone. If she wants the $199 price, she would have to wait until October 2009.
This is what makes me angry:
Why does she have to pay the full price for the iPhone and then still pay the same $30/month fee as a new customer? If anything, she should have to pay the amount owing of the subsidy on the original crappy Samsung phone she got when she opened the account. That POS Samsung phone is not worth the $200 extra. Hell, she's not even using it (she's using an unlocked Sony Ericsson W810i I got for her last year).
She should have to pay the amount owing on the original subsidized phone she received when she signed her first 2-year contract in February, not the full price of the iPhone and the full subsidized monthly fee. If they're going to charge the full price for the phone, the monthly fee should be reduced accordingly. Or, she should be able to get the iPhone at $199 and then pay the regular, subsidized, $30/month fee. Not both.
Here's the kicker: I have the 1st gen iPhone that I got in February. I AM entitled to upgrading to the 3G at the $199/299 price points. If we wanted to, I can upgrade to the 3G and give her my 2G to use. But she wants a new phone, and I don't blame her. (Plus, I like having the 2G- I would hardly use 3G, and I like the $20/month including 200 texts plan I have).
AT&T is doing this for one reason: because they can and not enough people are raising sh*t over it.
Odd that they have so many refurbs.... although I did replace mine 7 times 
for legit reasons though....
A $100 dollar difference is pretty significant....not sure I'd be willing to risk it though....
for legit reasons though....A $100 dollar difference is pretty significant....not sure I'd be willing to risk it though....
Wow, really? The phone is Locked? This IS the price of the iPhone. The plan for the iPhone costs upwards of $70, but the iPhone (refurbished) costs $99. Hey, my new car costs $30K, but i'm not going around barking that that's not the price because I have to buy gas and oil and tires for it. The car costs $30K. The refurbished iPhone costs $99. Gas costs more money each month, but that's just a cost of owning the car. The plan costs money each month, but that's just the cost of owning an iPhone.
Guess what. If you don't like the cost of the plan, the solution is simple. DON'T BUY AN IPHONE!!! I'm sure there are plenty of other great phones out there that would be perfect for you! But I'm sure that you just like whining about the iPhone, so maybe I should just let you go ahead and cry about the plan. Sorry for being so insensitive by not letting you cry. I'll try to do better next time.
Other than that, I think that the $99 price is good. It let's Apple get rid of some of their refurbished iPhones, and since more people are buying them, then the market share goes up and interest goes up also.
But back to those who whine about the contractual requirements and the $70 approx. starter plans. If you don't like that price, or the contract requirement, then just do what I told Marx. Go and get yourself a different phone. There are plenty of great phones out there other than the iPhone. Get yourself a different phone and leave the iPhones to those of us who like the iPhone's features enough to pay for them. The iPhone isn't for everyone. The iPhone has certain features, and lacks certain features. If this doesn't please you, than it may not be the phone for you. Those of you who cry that you would buy one if it was cheaper, and that somehow Apple should pay attention to those who are demanding a cheaper iPhone, should take notice. Apple is selling a S**tload of iPhones without you. So, maybe they are doing something right. Maybe they don't need to lower the price to please you. I could just as easily tell Mercedes that they need to lower the price of their cars to around $30K and I would buy them. I would be stupid to say that, just as you are stupid for saying that Apple and ATT needs to lower the prices.
Sorry for my rant, but reading some of these posts sometimes gets a little irritating. People thinking that they know how to run Apple and ATT better than those running who are running them.
Peace Out, and here's to hoping for an announced 32GB iPhone at Macworld!!!
Dropping the 2-yr AT&T contract requirements to 1-year, better yet zero ---- might get me interested. Maybe
Nah, I don't think that you would be interested. The reason that the new iPhones cost only $199 and $299 is because AT&T has a 2-yr contract. If they dropped the contractual requirement, the iPhone would probably be over $600. Would you be interested? Nope! Probably not, because you would still need a plan for the phone features and if you didn't want the phone features, you would just buy an iPod Touch.
Guess what? AT&T dropping the contract requirements might get you interested? Then the iPhone isn't for you. Go get yourself some other phone and stop trolling this forum. PROBLEM SOLVED!!! Aren't you glad that I solved that for you!
AT&T is selling quite a few iPhones at the prices they have right now. Why in the hell would they need to lower the price? Are you an expert on supply and demand. If there is a high demand, then the responsible thing for Apple and AT&T to do is to raise the price. The only reason to lower the price is if the demand is low. The demand is still high on the iPhone right now, so there is no reason to lower the price on the phone or the plan.
There are still a lot of people who are willing to pay the upfront phone cost and the long-range plan cost. If you aren't willing to pay it than go buy a different phone and stop complaining about the upfront and long-range price of the iPhone. The iPhone isn't for everyone, and apparently it isn't for you either
I have an iPhone, I love it. At no time did I EVER complain about the price. I never said it was expensive, I never said it was worse than a competitor's plans or phone.
People are reading waaaay too much into this.
I said they would sell more if the plans were cheaper. Anyone want to argue that?
Bloody hell, I never thought a two line post stating the bleeding obvious would blow up into such a mess. I also never thought I'd see a whole thread packed with people arguing FOR the status quo.
Im not sure if it applies to this but usually when u send in your ipod or iphone into get fixed they give u a 90 day warranty but if there is still some of your original warranty that is more then 90 days u keep that rather then the 90 day one. so maybe if the phone u buy ($99 one) has an original warranty of more then 90 days you'll keep that. Not sure if i explained it very well.
no it's not. in places where you can buy an unlocked iphone, it costs about 500-600 ($700-850), so that's "the" price of the device.
in places where you can't buy an unlocked iphone and have to buy eg att contract with it, it just doesn't make any sense to talk about "iphone price" and "plan price", you can't separate the two. so you have iphone "service", that costs you about 1700 if you get the refurb device, instead 1800 for non-refurb. cool. let's all get one now.
well, you're not obliged to use apple/att gas stations to buy your gas, you can choose any road and you're not limited to apple/att toll roads. so your analogy sucks big time.
no wonder the economy is at the sorry state it is today when people have difficulties understanding the contracts they sign into.
I think it is a good price point, BECAUSE the plan is so high. That being said, I'd still rather have an original iPhone. The plans are cheaper, you get more, and 3G isn't always necessary when there is Wi-Fi everywhere you go...idk just my opinion
I can see how AT&T can do $99 instead of $149, as if those are returns, maybe they are from someone who already paid an activation fee and first month's service?
Wait, so is the cancellation fee still $200. This is what I am thinking about doing: buying a reburbished iPhone at $99, canceling the service agreement, jailbreaking it, then putting my current AT&T sim card in it (which I am only paying $40 a month for). Is it possible to do this?
I will do anything for a cheap iPhone. Hopefully the iPhone Nano will have a service agreement for only $40.
I will do anything for a cheap iPhone. Hopefully the iPhone Nano will have a service agreement for only $40.
The ETF is $175, plus you have to pay the activation fee and first month of service for the phone...
Well your 100% right minus the pleading part. I just know how to ask nicely the first time
So... what are these discounts? And what, you ask them nicely if they'll charge you less than the published plan and they say yes?
cellphones have become a consumer staple...similar to food. Even if people lose their jobs, they will pay their cellphone bill before paying any other bill. Those people who dont have good financial sense and are in debt still pay their cellphone bill...i guess their social life is pretty important while their credit score is worthless. People will pay at&T monthly costs, pretty much whatever it is.
Yes. This is really an argument that doesn't need to take place, but I'm sure that lowering the plan by 5-10$ would bring in a few more adopters. However...there are Millions of iPhone users out there that are already happily paying their monthly premium. If AT&T changed their plans, they would have to change it for all accounts. That makes absolutely no business sense. Not only does a $100 drop makes a larger impact on buyers (let's face it, no one takes the time to think that $5/mo works out to a larger saving over the 2/yr contract), but it's really the only logical marketing plan. Does anyone want to argue that?
