8GB iPhone Price Drop, 4GB iPhone Discontinued

[sabr]

i happily bought 2 iphones on release date. normally, i don't mind the apple version 1.0 tax, but this is on the extreme edge of what is reasonable. i'd be happy with a small concession, like free applecare for the iphone.

apple's expectations for iphone sales must have been way, way off for them to have lowered the price this much. i guess 10 million phone sales was totally unreachable after the initial iphone craze.

 

[kingnimrod]

get on 1800-MY-APPLE right now and politely voice your displeasure with the sudden price drop.

Apple should offer some kind of credit back to early adopters, maybe in the form of service credits or itunes credit or something.

This is the kind of action that is going to cause a lot of distrust among customers of a company that supposedly cares about customer satisfaction.

Early adopters always pay a premium, but this is absolutely ridiculous! That news could very well hinder sales of the new Ipod touch, because many will be waiting for a Christmas price-drop.

Come on steve. Time to wear a shirt that won't restrict the oxygen from your brain!

 

[DirectriX]

I bought my Xbox 360 a year and a half ago and now they added HDMI and lowered the price...

I bought my Macbook Pro in September 2006 shortly before they introduced the Core 2 Duo chips and 802.11n networking built-in...

People bought computers in July 2007 and then iLife '08 came out in August... should they get free upgrades?!

iLife '08 is $79
Now please go shoot yourself!

 

[dragracer.de]

Ebay?

what about the current high-bidders for iphones on eBay right now?

Sorry for them

 

[Snide]

Return policy for refurbished iPhones or other items?

Here is my plan of attack.. I just bought a 4gb refurb 10 days ago for 399. Returning that immediately and buying either a 4gb refurb again (will surely be 299 or less IF they are still available) or turn around and buy an 8gb for the same price I paid for the 4gb.

I'm in the same boat - ordered refurb 4 GB Aug 27th, received it Aug 29th (last Wed).

Is it possible to return this thing and eat the restocking fee? Also, since it's
been activated, I'm sure that'll throw a nice wrench in the works...Any ideas?

 

[michpope]

stop crying

I have been a early adopter of every product apple releases, and will continue to be when i bought my cell phone from another provider i had to pay full price for the phone and a month and a half later the phone was almost 150 dollars cheaper. you have to suck it up and deal with it and move on everyone was loving their iphone until now boo hoo. The product works perfect and was well worth the money i paid for it when i bought it on release date, 200 dollar price difference is nothing.

 

[Island Dog]

People paid $600 because they thought it was worth it. ok.

But Apple is still pissing on their best customers.

I agree. However, I won't buy a 1st gen Apple product ever again.

 

[BrownManUPS]

Haha

Hahahahahahaha that sucks.

 

[gt1948]

where's the K-Y

After only three months, they're dropping the price by $200? And deleting the 4GB iPhone?

I know there's a "bleeding edge" penalty, but jesus. There's a lot of pissed-off iPhone owners right now. I'm sure.

3 months? try 2 months and 6 days....

Need a 200 buck refund

 

[Sense Field]

A letter to apple regarding iphone price drop

apple has a section on their web site for telling iphone stories....today I decided to write one...here it is...

I bought an iphone the day it came out for $599... I had to sacrifice and save as much as I could on my small salary to afford such a luxury item. I managed to save $100 a month for 6 months. So far I love the device but then....

today you dropped the price of my luxury item to $399...essentially making it a mass market item and robbing me of $200 and the luxury of owning one in the process.

To most $200 isn't much but to me its two of my monthly bills. its food for 2 months. its 1/4 of my monthly mortgage. Its a month of going out on the weekends. To some $200 isn't much but to me its everything. Living paycheck to paycheck on a graphic designers salary.

I will continue to buy apple products because I love them but next time I will be much less likely to be an early adopter.


Signed,
Michael *******
Still loving apple though feeling slightly robbed

post your own story at http://www.apple.com/iphone/share/

 

[pacohaas]

This would be a good one for those credit card offers of price protection. I usually sign up for the free trials of those offers and I believe the details are that if you find a lower price within 90 days of purchase, the CC company will refund you the difference. Anyone got the ball rolling on this type of deal on your 8GB iPhone?

 

['73-B]

How the hell are you even getting to the store?? All I get is "be back soon"??

I can get to the www.apple.com/store but if I try the link for the $299 4gb iPhone I get the we'll be back soon message as well.

 

[ghall]

I haven't even got my 4GB refurbished iPhone in. To think if I just waited, I could have had an 8GB brand new for the same price. AARRRGH!!

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Look, everyone who's mad about this price drop, take a deep breath and relax. When you bought your phone you decided that the money asked for was fair and worth it. That hasn't changed now, if you thought it was fair and worth it when you paid for it, its still fair and worth it now. Just because other people can now buy it for cheaper shouldn't come in to it. Factors such as loss in resale value don't really apply because you're lumbered with it for two years anyway.
Personally, I have to say that this is a very good move on Apple's part. They would have had trouble marketing a $599 phone here in Europe. That would have equated to £375ish in a market where basically no mobile phones are sold for more than £50 with a 12 month contract. This will now mean that they can sell a phone for around £250ish over here and some people will spend that money on it. I still hope they bend the rules of subsidisation or at least reduce the contract to 12 months over here. I really think that 24 months to be locked into one phone in the current world of rapid technology turnover is rather daft.

 

[iQuit]

...

Good news for people wanting an iPhone/iPod. Bad news for me and my 4 gig.

Only 100 mb left and plenty of music left in my iTunes.

 

[chaseardoin7]

Amen!

i'm pissed too!

 

[zioxide]

I hate it when companies lower the prices on their products! If I had to pay a certain price, everyone else should too. If they lower the price, I should at least be reimbursed for the extra amount I spent. I know I thought the product was worth a certain price (after all, I bought it at that price), but now that other people can get it for cheaper it's no longer worth the original price for me. The company owes me money for my mistake.

Oh, wait. I'm not 10. Ignore the previous paragraph.

WELCOME TO CAPITALISM.

They can charge whatever the **** they want, drop the price whenver the **** they want. That's how our economy works. **** comes out, and then the price drops.

 

[TheSailerMan]

I don't know if this has been brought up yet (I haven't read all the pages), but if anyone remembers the huge price drop Apple gave Aperture when they upgraded it to version 1.1, they gave everyone who had previously purchased it a $300 rebate (I believe the price dropped from $499 to $199). So I wouldn't be surprised if Apple did the same thing with the iPhone.

Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't offer a rebate.

 

[banano1]

surprised?

1) If you bought your ipod in the last 60 days and used some sort of credit card..MasterCard / Visa / Amex ... some cards offer price protection. All you have to do is show them the new price in an advertisment with the 200 dollar price drop, file a claim and you can get your 200 bucks back.

Example: http://www.wamu.com/NR/rdonlyres/126F31B2-6279-4FDF-A4BF-A5DAEC6C6CF3/0/Value_shop_2006.pdf

2) Some credit cards offer extended protection / warranty / loss clauses. Basically smash your iphone on the wall, ask for the amount you paid, then buy a new phone at the cheaper price and get the difference.

whickey is exactly right...anyone with a decent credit card/credit history can contact their bank/issuer and get $200 back, especially if its within 90 days.

now, with that aside, why is anyone surprised? Apple is generally VERY good about keeping stable prices, unlike 99% of the rest of the electronics industry. And for most of your apple products, resale value stays very stable. look at used ipod/mini/macbook prices and you'll see.

next....this is a mobile phone, so you CANNOT judge it by typical apple pricing standards. I bought a samsung blackjack for $250, and saw it a month later for $75....and wasnt surprised. this type of stuff happens ALL the time with cellphones.

next....could it be that apple wasnt planning this at launch? I wonder if they saw microsoft or a whole host of other manufacturers preparing iphone look alikes? and with their specs and manufacturing costs set in place, apple slashes the iphone costs to stomp on their necks. why buy a nokia iphone imitation for $700 now? this keeps apple ahead of the market share curve for another generation of cell phones, and buys them time/volume/market until they do a technological revision, maybe increased capacity/3g/whatever else you want...?

 

[Yebot]

This was a rather dumb move on Apple's part. Who is going to buy another expensive first-generation Apple product? Just wait a few months and they'll knock 33% off the price.

Someone will always pay too much to be first.

 

[CTYankee]

We all expected it, but not after only 60 days.

They did this with Aperture (from $500 to $300) as well, but they offered store credit for the difference. They better do that here as well.

Because Aperture 1.0 was a read loser. Most pros would not touch it.

The iPhone is the total opposite. Hugely popular.

Deal with it people. Your lust and impatience cost you $200.

 

[erova]

continuing my earlier comment, i'd be more cross if i thought the iphone was too much dough at $599, bought a treo for $250 and a plan, and now had to watch the iphone price drop announced today.

 

[somberlaine]

Cell phone market is unlike anything else but...

I am hoping Apple will send me a free copy OS 10.5.... I doubt it though.

 

[Midirose]

i feel like a $200 whore

LOL...... It least you were ****** and it was a good feeling. At least mine was.

Oh yeah and a 16GB iPhone without the phone,iPod.....they can keep that ****. I'll wait for the 160GB iPod touch widescreen model with in the next 18 months.....Marketing BS!!!!!!

 

[anubis]

What a bunch of cry babies and drama queens.

The iPhone is a phone. Not a hedge against inflation.

Yes, I bought my 8 gig iPhone on the day they came out. It's a little upsetting but that's the price you pay for having cutting edge electronic gadgets. If you wanted to spend $600 in a way that would preserve its value over time, I'd recommend a good Large Cap Blend. In the meantime, quit whining and save the drama for yo mama!