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AT&T Rep: Apple Has Told Us No New iPhone in June or July

Sorry but I do not buy the report about AT&T rep because your eligibility date does not change based on a particular phone not coming out at a certain time. I have an a 3G phone and I just became eligible for an upgrade in January. This date has not changed and AT&T states that I can change whenever I want. I am waiting for the next phone so that I am not behind again. When I got my 3G, I did not know about their yearly upgrades so I missed the 3GS by one month and then iPhone 4 came out last year. I do not want to get the iPhone 4 just so that I can be behind again.:D

Next year, I can be behind but not this year.:eek:
 
twcbc said:
Market share matters, even for Apple.

See, like everyone else, Apple make most of their profit from product which dominate the market.

The competition from Android is heating up this year. Apple know this better than anyone else. That's why they finally add VZ iPhone this year. I don't mind the delay of iPhone 5. But I do think iOS5 should bring the "real staff" to iPhone, or the PC vs Mac history will repeat soon.
Click to expand...

Well... the iPhone will never dominate market share against Android. It simply never will. You can get Android on many devices from many manufacturers. If market share is your measure of success... Google has it.

Despite that... Apple sold 34 million iPhones in the last 6 months... and there were plenty of rockstar Android phones someone could have bought instead. The iPhone brought Apple $12 Billion in revenue last quarter alone... is Apple really in trouble?

And... Verizon is just one carrier out of 100 on this planet. It was inevitable that an iPhone would go to Verizon... but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the world.
 
simon-says said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)

Kinda funny one of my lines just had it's eligibility for upgrade moved up nearly 5 months. Late September to next week, May 9th.
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Indeed. This is silly--upgrade eligibility is usually (always?) phone-independent. AT&T has in the past waived or shortened upgrade eligibility so that people can immediately buy the new iPhone model. But they aren't going to extend it solely because of the release date of one phone.

More likely the OP (or reporter) dropped a line of service or some services and because his spend went down his upgrade eligibility is no longer "early' and instead is at the usual two years.
 
MacSlut said:
Read through this thread. Look at other sites that picked this up. Look at what you did.

Think next time.
Click to expand...

Wow. I knew exactly what I did. I was fishing for an official response and noted I had planned, like every other year, to upgrade to the newest phone this summer. Instead of detailing exactly why the date was moved, I was told about Apple's plans not to release during June/July. I too purchased the iPhone 4 as soon as it was available, and in fact had it in my hands on the 23rd.

I don't know where this got off track onto how and when I pay my bill, but you don't need to jump on me for forwarding an email.
 
Travis284 said:
iOS 5 at WWDC and new iPhone hardware at an apple special event in September. You heard it here first.
Click to expand...

Shocking as this may sound, WWDC was not designed as a stage to release iPhone updates. WWDC is a DEVELOPER conference...not a release party.

If anything it should be Mac centric as without the Mac the iPhone wouldn't exist.

Developers, Developers, Developers!
 
Michael Scrip said:
Well... the iPhone will never dominate market share against Android. It simply never will. You can get Android on many devices from many manufacturers. If market share is your measure of success... Google has it.

Despite that... Apple sold 34 million iPhones in the last 6 months... and there were plenty of rockstar Android phones someone could have bought instead. The iPhone brought Apple $12 Billion in revenue last quarter alone... is Apple really in trouble?

And... Verizon is just one carrier out of 100 on this planet. It was inevitable that an iPhone would go to Verizon... but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the world.
Click to expand...

I said "iPhone dominate smartphone market". What you mentioned is iOS vs Android. They're completely different.

If Apple did not have VZ iPhone, they will have 0 share outside GSM phone. Apple want the market share to translate into profit.

Apple is a company who's profit comes, mostly, from selling hardware. So market share of product matters to Apple. Google, on the other side, cares more on OS market share. As long as iPhone still win the "phone market", not the OS market share, Apple will do well.
 
terraphantm said:
At&t bumped my upgrade eligibility from 11/30/2011 to 6/30/2011.
Click to expand...

I do a lot of business and have several activated lines with AT&T and Verizon. I purchase several new phones annually from each of them. I'm a true smartphone addict. :eek:

AT&T has revamped the way they calculate upgrade eligibility and time lines. They used to simply count the months you've been in contract and assign you a fixed date.

Recently all that has changed. Now they take into consideration how much you spend with them, how many lines you have, what your data plan and text msg plans are etc. They monitor this on an ongoing basis. As a result your upgrade date on your account is dynamic and will change periodically.

It may change frequently or just once or twice during your contract period. In my case what I like is I get upgrade pricing just about anytime I wish based on the fact I spend quite a bit to have several concurrently activated phones.

Your mileage may vary :)
 
Tonezorz said:
Wow. I knew exactly what I did. I was fishing for an official response and noted I had planned, like every other year, to upgrade to the newest phone this summer. Instead of detailing exactly why the date was moved, I was told about Apple's plans not to release during June/July. I too purchased the iPhone 4 as soon as it was available, and in fact had it in my hands on the 23rd.

I don't know where this got off track onto how and when I pay my bill, but you don't need to jump on me for forwarding an email.
Click to expand...

So now this is an email you received? An AT&T rep actually put it in writing? Is this what you're now saying?

Where this got "off track" or rather on the track it should've been on in the first place is that clearly if your upgrade was pushed back it was from any number of things people have posted about for years now on the matter: bill payment, length of being a customer, level of account, etc... Really, this comes up every year.

Your story is making less and less sense, and here's where actually thinking first comes in handy:

If a customer service rep told you that the iPhone had been delayed then either this was public knowledge, thus why forward the email to MacRumors, or this wasn't public knowledge, thus why would a first contact customer rep even know this let alone say anything about it?

Sorry if it seems like I, and others, are jumping on you, but your story is BS, and you either know it, or should know it. Take a look at the coverage it's gotten. It's on most of the Apple coverage sites including some read by investors and analysts.

Do we really need news being polluted with this? If you're an honest person, you should now, confronted with logic, common sense, and the actual truth, contact those who picked up your story.

Clearly your upgrade wasn't delayed because of the iPhone being released later, and you know it.
 
inaka said:
I just did.
Ordered the white iphone 4...ships in a few days.

And when the iPhone 5 comes out, i'll buy that in a year or so too.
Click to expand...

And what will you do if Apple releases iPhone in, say, seven colors?
 
twcbc said:
I said "iPhone dominate smartphone market". What you mentioned is iOS vs Android. They're completely different.

If Apple did not have VZ iPhone, they will have 0 share outside GSM phone. Apple want the market share to translate into profit.

Apple is a company who's profit comes, mostly, from selling hardware. So market share of product matters to Apple. Google, on the other side, cares more on OS market share. As long as iPhone still win the "phone market", not the OS market share, Apple will do well.
Click to expand...

Maybe you misunderstood me... I don't care about market share... either hardware share or software share. I don't think it matters how much of one thing there are against another thing.

You're right... Apple cares about profit... mostly from selling hardware. Which they do... lots of hardware. I think that's more important for a company.

Apple is, and has always been, a hardware company.

Google went down the route of putting their software on any device that wanted it... which is why I hate when people compare Android vs the iPhone.
 
Michael Scrip said:
Maybe you misunderstood me... I don't care about market share... either hardware share or software share. I don't think it matters how much of one thing there are against another thing.

You're right... Apple cares about profit... mostly from selling hardware. Which they do... lots of hardware. I think that's more important for a company.

Apple is, and has always been, a hardware company.

Google went down the route of putting their software on any device that wanted it... which is why I hate when people compare Android vs the iPhone.
Click to expand...

It's not about you, point is "market share is very important" to Apple. Saying market share is not a goal is just wrong.
 
twcbc said:
It's not about you, point is "market share is very important" to Apple. Saying market share is not a goal is just wrong.
Click to expand...

So what is Apple gonna do?

The Android monster is out of control... there are 50+ Android phones out there.

Apple only has 5 phones. Apple sells every phone they make... yet other platforms sell more. It's not a bad thing, bro... I'm on your side :)

I'm sure Apple would love for Mac market share to be higher too... but I think they realized long ago that that's quite a challenge. Yet, the Mac is still kickin' stronger than ever.

At the end of the day... is more market share better? Or more profit?

The only reason Android has so much market share is because Google will license it to anyone.

However... Apple is the only company who makes the iPhone. But they're doing phenomenally well. Check their latest earnings report.
 
MacSlut said:
So now this is an email you received? An AT&T rep actually put it in writing? Is this what you're now saying?

Where this got "off track" or rather on the track it should've been on in the first place is that clearly if your upgrade was pushed back it was from any number of things people have posted about for years now on the matter: bill payment, length of being a customer, level of account, etc... Really, this comes up every year.

Your story is making less and less sense, and here's where actually thinking first comes in handy:

If a customer service rep told you that the iPhone had been delayed then either this was public knowledge, thus why forward the email to MacRumors, or this wasn't public knowledge, thus why would a first contact customer rep even know this let alone say anything about it?

Sorry if it seems like I, and others, are jumping on you, but your story is BS, and you either know it, or should know it. Take a look at the coverage it's gotten. It's on most of the Apple coverage sites including some read by investors and analysts.

Do we really need news being polluted with this? If you're an honest person, you should now, confronted with logic, common sense, and the actual truth, contact those who picked up your story.

Clearly your upgrade wasn't delayed because of the iPhone being released later, and you know it.
Click to expand...

Now we're getting somewhere. I hadn't realized nor did I ever intend this situation to be construed as "They moved my upgrade date due to the iPhone delay."

I'll paste below, while removing the names involved, the original email correspondence between myself and the AT&T representative. This is an original email reply to a support form submission on the AT&T site.

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Contact and Verification Information
Topic/Subtopic
Topic: I have a question about my contract
Subtopic: Contract expiration

Q2:Enter your contract expiration question below:
A2:I'm curious as to why my upgrade date used to be 6/18 of this year, when now it's moved to 11/19? I've ugpraded three years in a row now when the new iPhone has been released. This year, assuming they launch around the same timeframe (June/July) I won't be able to? Some clarification would be great.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

And the response:

Dear Mr. *****,

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail AT&T to advise that your upgrade date was 6/18/11, but now when you check, you see that it has been moved to 11/19/11 and want to know why this has occurred. I apologize for the frustration this has caused. My name is *****, and I am happy to help you with your inquiry.

Unfortunately, we are not given a reason when the upgrade date changes on a line. Equipment discounts are made available from time to time based on a number of factors: service tenure, spending levels, payment history, usage practices and time frame since last equipment discount. Generally, a line is eligible to upgrade every 17 to 21 months, but frequently offers are made to the primary line on an account to do this earlier based on the factors above. The upgrade offer is also based on a three-month average of the billed rate plan and data services per line and eligibility is generally re-evaluated every three months or so as well and sometimes the dates do change. I apologize that this affected you and for any frustration and inconvenience it has caused.

Apple has informed us that they do not plan to release the iPhone in the June to July timeframe, though there will be a newer version in the future. Unfortunately, we have not been given a release time for the new phone. We will release this information on our website when it is available to us.

Mr. *****, I am sorry that I could not give you a more definite answer, but hope that the information provided has been helpful. Should you have additional concerns or questions about this issue please reply to this email. If you need to contact us again regarding a new issue please send us another email via the contact link through your online account. Again, my name is *****, and I thank you for being a valued AT&T customer for several years. We appreciate your business and will do our best to ensure that your wireless experience is a success.

I encourage you to visit our web site (www.att.com/wireless) often to view current and previous monthly statements, make payments and to shop for new product and service offerings.


Sincerely,

*****
AT&T
Online Customer Care Professional
Click to expand...

Again, all I've left out is my mobile number and our names. The article here on MacRumors is both precise in labeling this as a rumor, and warns against believing the statements of support personell. Also, I don't believe in any way that it suggests an iPhone delay was the cause of my upgrade date change.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Michael Scrip said:
So what is Apple gonna do?

The Android monster is out of control... there are 50+ Android phones out there.

Apple only has 5 phones. Apple sells every phone they make... yet other platforms sell more. It's not a bad thing, bro... I'm on your side :)

I'm sure Apple would love for Mac market share to be higher too... but I think they realized long ago that that's quite a challenge. Yet, the Mac is still kickin' stronger than ever.

At the end of the day... is more market share better? Or more profit?

The only reason Android has so much market share is because Google will license it to anyone.

However... Apple is the only company who makes the iPhone. But they're doing phenomenally well. Check their latest earnings report.
Click to expand...

You have to realize one thing. Without market share, company like Apple can not make profit.
 
twcbc said:
You have to realize one thing. Without market share, company like Apple can not make profit.
Click to expand...

Yeah... you have to sell products to make money... but nothing says you have to have the most market share in order to make money.

Let's say Android gets 35% of the market... and Apple only has 25% of the market...

Apple still can sell 20 million iPhones in a quarter and makes a crap-ton of money doing it. That's what I've been saying all along!

Read my other comments here and elsewhere... I HATE market share arguments. It infuriates me every time there is a headline saying "Android beats Apple" and "Android Grows while Apple Stalls"

It's crazy to compare the two anyway... Apple and Google have completely different business models.

My next phone will be an iPhone... I don't care if Android phones outsell the iPhone 2-to-1
 
Actarus said:
3 months... Or more, we don't know, that's the problem. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S2, an outstanding phone(reviews say), will be in the market. Apple, wake up.
Click to expand...

Too bad the phone will be on the market for 6 months without a single software update then release a new phone telling customers if they want bugs fixed they'll have to buy a new phone rather than expecting a free software update. The fact that people take seriously Samsung's mobile phones really shows what a legion of drones there are out there - if Samsung aren't abandoning their Android users at the earliest instance they're screwing up WP7 updates.
 
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