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Apr 12, 2001
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AT&T today announced that, effective tomorrow, it will lower the price of the 8 GB iPhone 3GS to $49 from the current $99 price point. The press release suggests that the pricing could also be available through Apple sales channels, although a footnote states that pricing is determined by Apple.
AT&T today announced a new price for the popular iPhone 3GS - $49.00 - available beginning tomorrow, Friday, January 7, for both new and upgrade-eligible existing AT&T customers. The offer will be available online at www.att.com/iphone, across more than 2,200 AT&T retail locations nationwide and through AT&T business channels, as well as Apple channels.
While several vendors offered the iPhone 3GS at discounted prices (including as low as "free") in limited promotions before the holidays, AT&T's offer sets a new bar for standard pricing.

Article Link: AT&T Lowers iPhone 3GS Price to $49
 
Boy, I WANT to read something into this (it means something!) but after thinking about it I'm pretty sure that all it means is people are buying the iPhone 4 a heck of a lot more than the 3GS.
 
Boy, I WANT to read something into this (it means something!) but after thinking about it I'm pretty sure that all it means is people are buying the iPhone 4 a heck of a lot more than the 3GS.

No, they're scared of the Verizon iPhone coming next week and want to snatch as many potential customers before the 11th as possible! ;)
 
Great. I just bought the 3GS last week for a friend. Maybe I'll take a trip back to the AT&T store and see if they'll reimburse me the difference....
 
Are they even still manufacturing the 3GS? Or are they just clearing out old inventory?

I think AT&T is running scared that Verizon is getting the phone and wants to lock in a last batch of new contracts before the hammer falls. Sadly people are idiots and don't realize that the up-front cost of a phone is a tiny percentage of what they will pay over the course of the contract, and they shouldn't let it be a big factor in the purchasing decision.

Ah well. What else is new? :)
 
Are they even still manufacturing the 3GS? Or are they just clearing out old inventory?

I think AT&T is running scared that Verizon is getting the phone and wants to lock in a last batch of new contracts before the hammer falls. Sadly people are idiots and don't realize that the up-front cost of a phone is a tiny percentage of what they will pay over the course of the contract, and they shouldn't let it be a big factor in the purchasing decision.

Ah well. What else is new? :)

I would assume that they are manufacturing the 3GS because it never came in 8GB format when it was the iPhone. But I may be completely wrong, just a guess.
 
I think AT&T is running scared that Verizon is getting the phone and wants to lock in a last batch of new contracts before the hammer falls.

No. Given the tumultuous impact another iPhone competitor would have on AT&T they would be giving them away free (and hand delivering them to your door).

*If* indeed a Verizon iPhone is near I think AT&T resigned itself long ago to the fact there's nothing they can do to prevent the initial onslaught so there's no reason to give the store away.
 
ATT last attempt to lock in 2 year contracts before the iPhone goes to Verizon.
 
Radioshack bought my 32GB 3GS back for $242 when I bought my iP4.

This is going to hurt a lot of people who have been 'meaning' to sell their old iPhones.
 
lol it is the 3gs. this means they want to get rid of them before summer.you people are so jumpy. omg look!!! apple is doing something, vz iphone!!1!!`111

omg look att did something vz iphone!!!11!1!!!
 
Radioshack bought my 32GB 3GS back for $242 when I bought my iP4.

This is going to hurt a lot of people who have been 'meaning' to sell their old iPhones.

most of the people that will buy with an upgrade won't be someone who would buy it off of ebay. the main buyer's on ebay are people not in a contract. if they buy from AT&T outright it would cost them around $400-$500 with no contract pricing.
 
contracts a joke !!

Sadly people are idiots and don't realize that the up-front cost of a phone is a tiny percentage of what they will pay over the course of the contract, and they shouldn't let it be a big factor in the purchasing decision.

Yeah . Whats up with the telecom companies in America . you will end up paying close to $1000 for your iphone with the 2 year contract .
They don't even give an option of buying the handset without the contract to the customer !!!
The FCC or someone ought to do something about this .
 
Yeah . Whats up with the telecom companies in America . you will end up paying close to $1000 for your iphone with the 2 year contract .
They don't even give an option of buying the handset without the contract to the customer !!!
The FCC or someone ought to do something about this .

Much more than $1000! Even with the minimal plans, close to $2000. I'm going to end up paying $2400 myself just for service.
 
What About The Nightly Mysterious Data Uploads?

This is great, but, what about AT&T coming clean with its customers and explain precisely what they're doing with these massive data uploads that occur in the middle of the night, while you're in flight, while your YOU and your phone are asleep... whatever.

WHO are they sending the data to?
WHAT data are they sending?
WHERE is it going?
WHY are thy only sending huge chunks of data at night? Billing reconciliation shouldnt cost users 20 to 50 to even 100 MBytes per night.

This especially becomes larger once you downgrade your dataplan from the grandfathered unlimited to 200MB plan. Then you're suddenly going over 200MB and you never did for 24 months prior. Nothing fishy about THAT...

There is more about this matter here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12802201

We need to get to the bottom of this now before we even consider upgrading hardware. And new customers, beware. The lack of transparency and failure of disclosure is at epidemic levels at AT&T (and Apple for that matter as they will DELETE any post on that forum that refers to any possible class-action lawsuit) which is their right, but still. Says a LOT about how they manage this stuff...
 
Why would anyone:

a)buy an older model of the iPhone when the iPhone 5 is basically a few months away and the 4 has been out for over 6 months

and

b)the one being offered for $49 is the lowest/crappiest one of the iPhone 3GS model

Just spend the $50 and get the $99 iPhone 4 with all the new bells and whistles and performance improvement over the 1.5 year old 3GS.
 
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