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perhaps the reasoning is that mobile phones were about to start eating into ipod sales as they are increasingly becoming competent music players and it's better that it's apple's own phone that is doing this rather than those of other companies.

Totally - I agree with you on that. Apple would be best off getting their hardware into everyone's hands before other challengers such as Samsung and (ugh) LG do. However, it seems like they're supporting iTouch as the other half of this "mobile platform of the future" and a subsidy on one half, devaluing the other still doesn't make sense. Unless of course, they start giving the iTouch away for free to everyone (and not just college students)...
 
new touch 3g

Totally - I agree with you on that. Apple would be best off getting their hardware into everyone's hands before other challengers such as Samsung and (ugh) LG do. However, it seems like they're supporting iTouch as the other half of this "mobile platform of the future" and a subsidy on one half, devaluing the other still doesn't make sense. Unless of course, they start giving the iTouch away for free to everyone (and not just college students)...

I'm pretty sure ATT will be subsidizing the new iphone. But, you're right, this would devalue the touch, except you don't have to pay monthly fees to own a touch.

On the other hand, put a data radio in a touch and ATT will be happy to subsidize THAT for a 2 year contract too. So, that's the tablet that will be announced tomorrow. (maybe) Plus you'll be able to VOIP over WiFi, so you might not even want a phone.

So, 50-50 chance we get a 3g, WiFi, Bluetooth touch with a slightly bigger screen! I'd wager 50 Quatloos!
 
Will 3G cost extra?

Will 3G access on the AT&T network be a free upgrade for existing EDGE users? Or will we have to shell out an additional $20/mo or so for the extra speed?

My gut feeling is... it'll cost extra. You see, Blackberry users pay a $35 premium over a basic voice plan to get unlimited internet. Text messaging is an additional $5. So to get all the services of an iPhone, Blackberry users pay about $80/mo. Compare that to the $60/mo iPhone users pay.

Think AT&T will let iPhone users serve themselves dinner for the lunchtime price at an all-you-can-eat Internet buffet? Think again.
 
i'm sure it would be cash... who would want $200 of at&t store credit.... ??
If you can pay your $75 per month bill with it – I guess it is as good as cash, no? But I am somewhat certain, it would be a mail in rebate...

Any subsidy better than no subsidy.
 
Will 3G access on the AT&T network be a free upgrade for existing EDGE users? Or will we have to shell out an additional $20/mo or so for the extra speed?

My gut feeling is... it'll cost extra. You see, Blackberry users pay a $35 premium over a basic voice plan to get unlimited internet. Text messaging is an additional $5. So to get all the services of an iPhone, Blackberry users pay about $80/mo. Compare that to the $60/mo iPhone users pay.

Think AT&T will let iPhone users serve themselves dinner for the lunchtime price at an all-you-can-eat Internet buffet? Think again.

Cost has been a question mark on some threads but from what I have generally gathered, nobody expects a price increase in the next few months

Now, I do agree that eventually we will see one especially if the iPhone sales sky-rocket.

As others have said, both AT&T and Apple want to make as much money as possible
 
wouldnt a $200 iphone or a FREE iphone cannabalize ipod sales? if people knew they could get an ALL-IN-One ipod-iphone doesnt that make an ipod worthless?

other than the younger generation that "arent aloud " to have phones.
 
wouldnt a $200 iphone or a FREE iphone cannabalize ipod sales? if people knew they could get an ALL-IN-One ipod-iphone doesnt that make an ipod worthless?

other than the younger generation that "arent aloud " to have phones.


I don't think it would since there would be stipulations and a 2 yr agreement with a monthly bill.
 
I don't think it would since there would be stipulations and a 2 yr agreement with a monthly bill.

true! and I know many people who dislike the iPod Touch /iPhone because of its size. They want a small iPod like the Nano and that's it. And as you said, a 2 year contract with a monthly bill over 30$ is just too much for the average guy.

other point: in europe, an iPod is still a very expensive gadget not everybody can't afford... or they have to safe money for a long time before they can get one... so a monthly fee would kill their buying-decision!
 
Will 3G access on the AT&T network be a free upgrade for existing EDGE users? Or will we have to shell out an additional $20/mo or so for the extra speed?

My gut feeling is... it'll cost extra. You see, Blackberry users pay a $35 premium over a basic voice plan to get unlimited internet. Text messaging is an additional $5. So to get all the services of an iPhone, Blackberry users pay about $80/mo. Compare that to the $60/mo iPhone users pay.

Think AT&T will let iPhone users serve themselves dinner for the lunchtime price at an all-you-can-eat Internet buffet? Think again.

were u asking if u have an EDGE iphone if u will be able to access 3G network?? if so, it is hardware therefore u would have to have the 3g phone to access it... as far as pricing, no word yet on data prices, its $20 now... if it goes up $10 o well

cry me a river and get a real job if u cant afford it...

all of our current pda devices, 3G or EDGE, require a $30 pda UNL plan for the internet if u want web access. any non-pda or reg phone is $15. iphone is the only exception w/ the $20

im assuming the current iphone data plans will still stand.
 
Aloha everyone,

I really don't understand AT&T's "upgrade" policy. My wife and I switched over in December 2006 due to T-Mobile's piss-poor service/signal quality out here in Hawaii. I got a POC LG cell phone then. My wife saved a place in line for me on "iDay" so that I could get an iPhone. My existing contract was simply extended for an additional 2-year period, my cell number transferred over, and life was good. I just checked AT&T's website (and have included the attached files) to see when I could upgrade my phone, and their site indicated August this year. Even then, it says that my line MAY be eligible for an "equipment discount", but not until 12 August 2008. That's 1 year and 8 months, or 20 months total. Has anyone else seen that on their contract? I was under the impression that it was generally either 18 or 24 months, so the 20 month thing just looks odd. Be that as it may, I will most likely go ahead and get the 3G iPhone anyway, then figure out what to do with my G1 iPhone :D

HawaiiMacAddict
 

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Can I digress a bit and ask the US users what the 3g coverage is over there? Because I'm getting the impression that its virtually non-existent.
 
Aloha everyone,

I really don't understand AT&T's "upgrade" policy. My wife and I switched over in December 2006 due to T-Mobile's piss-poor service/signal quality out here in Hawaii. I got a POC LG cell phone then. My wife saved a place in line for me on "iDay" so that I could get an iPhone. My existing contract was simply extended for an additional 2-year period, my cell number transferred over, and life was good. I just checked AT&T's website (and have included the attached files) to see when I could upgrade my phone, and their site indicated August this year. Even then, it says that my line MAY be eligible for an "equipment discount", but not until 12 August 2008. That's 1 year and 8 months, or 20 months total. Has anyone else seen that on their contract? I was under the impression that it was generally either 18 or 24 months, so the 20 month thing just looks odd. Be that as it may, I will most likely go ahead and get the 3G iPhone anyway, then figure out what to do with my G1 iPhone :D

HawaiiMacAddict

Hi! I am in Ohio and also have AT&T. My contract expires next month, and my hardware upgrade didn't happen until month 20 (March 2008). I don't know what the contract says, but that's when it happened. In regards to MAY be eligible for the equipment discount, that has to do with the subsidy - or in the iPhone's current case, lack there of - you pay the full price.

-Steve
:apple:
 
Aloha everyone,

I really don't understand AT&T's "upgrade" policy. My wife and I switched over in December 2006 due to T-Mobile's piss-poor service/signal quality out here in Hawaii. I got a POC LG cell phone then. My wife saved a place in line for me on "iDay" so that I could get an iPhone. My existing contract was simply extended for an additional 2-year period, my cell number transferred over, and life was good. I just checked AT&T's website (and have included the attached files) to see when I could upgrade my phone, and their site indicated August this year. Even then, it says that my line MAY be eligible for an "equipment discount", but not until 12 August 2008. That's 1 year and 8 months, or 20 months total. Has anyone else seen that on their contract? I was under the impression that it was generally either 18 or 24 months, so the 20 month thing just looks odd. Be that as it may, I will most likely go ahead and get the 3G iPhone anyway, then figure out what to do with my G1 iPhone :D

HawaiiMacAddict


WELL, all of our agreements are for 24 months. the REGULAR upgrade time is 3 months prior to the end of your agreement, so about 21 months into your agreement... which means you are eligable to renew your agreement again(deleting the 3months left and adding a new 2yr) then recieving the 2yr discount on a phone..... but at&t's new "Upgrade Advantage Program" rewards customers with medium to high revenue accounts, and customers who pay their bills on time... some customers may be eligable for an upgrade 19 months into their agreement or even as soon as 12 months, in each case deleting the remaining contract and renewing for 2yrs.

SO as i stated above in the previous post, buying the iphone, although renewing the 2yr agreement SHOULD NOT change your original upgrade date...

the ONLY other reason i could think of that it might have been renewed it u called CUSTOMER SERVICE to change your voice rate plan... in some cases the still place a default "renewal" of 11months onto an account when changing a rate plan, but this is rare. if you ever come into a corporate store and change your plan we will never renew the agreement cause thats jus a dumb reason to.
 
hmm i think in the case of the iPhone ATT may do an offer for existing customers with an iPhone already where they can upgrade their phone for a small fee followed by a new 2 year contract. If you have a different model of phone, then I can't see them doing a similar deal. Unless you pay mega bucks. This will hopefully be a similar deal in the UK.
 
This is what I think the pricing will be for the 3g iPhone

$599 - 32gb, $200 off with 2 yr agreement
$399 - 16gb, $100 off with 1 yr agreement

both would be rebates, from att wireless or maybe half of it as instant and the rest as mail in. who knows. So $399 & $299 respectively.
 
no way!

Nice. Hate the white though... gimme black. Nice to see the obvious front facing camera though - that's one off the list.


No way that's the new phone! That thing is huge...looks almost 2x wider than the current model...and, sporting no visible chrome or aluminum, looks so totally toyish -- almost just like one of those countless iphony impersonators!!

I'm tellin' ya, NO WAY Apple decided against changing the already elegant look of the current phone to something that looks as cheap as that does.

Then again that's probably EXACTLY what a $199 3G iPhone would look like lolol! So if authentic, I hope all you subsidy crybabies are happy. You get what you pay for indeed!
 
Then again that's probably EXACTLY what a $199 3G iPhone would look like lolol! So if authentic, I hope all you subsidy mongers are happy. You get what you pay for indeed!

Look, i don't think you're quite getting it, the subsidy is coming from the phone company not Apple.
 
i think...

32GB $599
16GB $499

same pricing as first release

no subsidy... at&t has no say in the cost, and they def wouldnt offer a rebate unless they actually made money on the phone in the first place, which they dont. so if there is going to be any subsidy it would be from apple, they are the ones making bajillion dollars.
 
no way!

Look, i don't think you're quite getting it, the subsidy is coming from the phone company not Apple.


No. You, look! The origin of the rebate slash discount slash subsidy -- slash whatever -- hasn't really been the focus of my whimsical ramblings; rather it's the mere notion/possibility of one existing period!!

But with less than 24 hours before I either completely embrace Apple all over again or abandon them forever -- depending on what they release -- whaddya say we put this issue to rest! But rest assured I'm not the only one who feels this way: let Apple abandon its tried 'n true formula of award-winning designs in favor of some cheap-lookin' piece o' crap in order to minimize production costs while rolling them out of factories at breakneck speeds to "put one in the hands of every mobile user" and I'll just keep my v.1, downloax the 2.0 software update and wait for the next Big Thing --- and I won't be looking to Apple to bring it!

I'm sick 'n tires of gettin' screwed around by the capitalist Apple Money-Making Machine!
 
The origin of the rebate slash discount slash subsidy -- slash whatever -- hasn't really been the focus of my whimsical ramblings

perhaps you should think about the origin of the subsidy before you conclude, as below, that iphone will have to be cheaper to make.


cheap-lookin' piece o' crap in order to minimize production costs while rolling them out of factories at breakneck speeds to "put one in the hands of every mobile user"
 
I'm going to attempt to drive out to the apple store during my lunch which I'll conveniently take right after the keynote. Of course I'll call first to make sure they have them in, but that doesn't guarantee anything.

I love your optimism. Hope you're right, mate. :D
 
Why the hell would anyone buy an iPod Touch for $399 when you could get an iPhone, that does everything and more for $200 after contract? Does it make sense for Apple to allow such a severe cannibalization of their iPod business?

I have to take issue with this. Let's say the cost is $299 for the new iPhone after a $200 AT&T subsidy -- meaning Apple's revenue per unit is $499. I don't know which iPod Touch they sell the most of, but I'd assume it's the mid to low end models. Hence, if the iPhone starts to cannibalize iPod Touch sales, that's a good thing, not a bad thing for Apple.

However, I'd argue that two products are targeting totally different consumers. One costs $299-499 (iPod Touch) upfront, and that's it. The new iPhone on the other hand -- assuming that the current pricing for the unit and rateplans stay the same and that AT&T provides a $200 subsidy -- will cost $1,738.76 (plus tax) over 24 months on the cheapest rate plan (and with 3G, there's good reason to suggest that AT&T will push up the plan costs) assuming you don't go over your minutes, make international calls, use the phone overseas etc.etc. So, they're totally different products; completely different price structures. People do pay attention to what their payments are (an analogy that comes to mind is that if you lease a car rather than buy one, your monthly payments will be lower - but it's a fundamentally different product you're getting).

Remember, under the current arrangements at least, Apple is believed to be receiving up to 40% of AT&T's iPhone subscriber revenue. Let's take a much more conservative estimate (maybe there's a renegotiation as part of the subsidy) -- let's say they get 20%. Well, on that formula they still get $786.95 in revenue at the least, I would argue -- $499 of that immediately, and the remainder as residual revenue over 24 months. This sounds a lot better than what they get with the iPod Touch.
 
great, but your comparing the previous years sales (which were NOT WORLDWIDE) to worldwide numbers. Apples to oranges my friend.

When iphone goes world, it will sell better than any phone.

---
And the whole point of a subsidy is to gain NEW business, thus the reason they don't offer existing customers subsidy's (minus those 1, and 2yr offers for upgrades, thats just to get you locked in again).

ATT is hardly the only company offering subsidies, and i expect them to do it with the iphone soon. All the v1 people will whine, oh well, thats business. If you dont like it, go buy a gophone. Your not owed anything for being an existing customer, because YOU SIGNED a contract already, your dues have been paid.

I wasn't 100% about the iPhone sales to date figure of 5 million, but it came from a BBC news article which I assumed would be pretty accurate. The fact remains that selling the iPhone worldwide won't alone guarantee big sales, it needs more features and more importantly it needs to get a lot cheaper.

I don't think any of the phone companies owe existing customers any favours or special deals but I still think they will, in the UK at least. O2 haven't given any existing customers any subsidies, so they'll be more than happy to offer them in exchange for a new 18 month contract.
 
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