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iPhone price cut: Official response from Steve Jobs

What. Isn't this the price you pay for being an early adopter? I trust Sony will come along now and hand out larger HDD's for the suckers who bought the 60gb PS3.

Still it's absolutely amazing to see this happen! But I also think it's daft to get mad over the new pricing.
 
wow! this is great! another thing that separates apple from other companies. they don't have to do this.

now to decide on how i want to spend the money...
 
gaelan said:
as an stock holder, this is disappointing.
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The hit to the stock amounted to 75 cents on about a $140 stock price.

They should do it again but with $200 each and eat the $1.50 in stock price. Or they could pull one of those "low cost basis" Apple shares from treasury and give one of each of those to each iPhone buyer. That will make them Apple investors as well as consumers.

Rocketman
 
Doctor Q said:
Has Steve admitted he reads email from customers before?
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He has read my emails before and personally replied, he even got someone to call me from Cupertino. I helped them fix an issue with the iTunes store in the UK, sent me a £100 music store voucher to say thanks.

Ian
 
metanoia said:
Wait, I'm still out $100... :) but still... this will go towards the macbook I want.
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This and the fact that they now have some of the "new" model refurbished macbooks at already killer prices makes me seriously consider jumping on one. I've been thinking about a new one for months, but just couldn't quite commit to the cost. But, with $500 off the price... That's something to seriously consider.

I'll probably wait until next month and the new OS X, though. I already have Tiger, so I might as well wait until Leopard just to have three consecutive releases.

I'm glad that Apple is helping out the early adopters, but I really didn't expect it. I was not planning on going into the store and making a fuss, and it looks like now I don't have to. Really, it's a win-win for both the early adopters and the Apple.

-jt2
 
i wasn't surprised by the price cut, really. figured it would probably be 100-150, though.

definitely not enough to complain about it. it's technology and prices going down are standard.

however! i'm definitely not going to turn down free money!!

thanks, steve, for a job well done!
 
Bravo!!!

**starts slow clap**

yes I'm an iPhone owner.

28 days and counting now. Was I upset? Yes. Pissed off and screaming? No.

Is this kind of thing normal in the cell phone world? Yes
Is this common for Apple? No.
Is the iPhone really just a phone? I say No. It's a computer in my pocket.

So lets look at the issues:

The price drop was quick ( 64 days I believe?) , it was large ( 33%!), And without any changes in the hardware. Typically apple drops prices when I newer, faster, bigger( or physically smaller as the case may be), better model comes out.
I doubt there would have been ONE ( well ok maybe two or three) whiners if Apple had released a 16GB model, Or a 3G or ANYTHING hardware changed to the iPhone. I wouldn't have .. I woulda laughed.. snapped my fingers and said "DAMN! if I had only waited 27 more days I coulda got X ( 3G, 16GB, Whatever ) for my 599 ( because that is typically what APPLE does lowers the price on the current and drops the new at the same price point ) "

I also think if the amount of drop had been smaller ( say 100 bucks) not nearly as many people wold have whined. I would not have .. but 200 bucks is over that " magic" number where it becomes a lot of money.

Since Apple has stepped up to the plate and taken care of this ( even tho I had personally written the $200 of as an annoying loss on my part, after calling AT&T and being shot down since I bought my phone there) I can say this

"Yeah sure it cost me 100 bucks extra to have my iPhone 27 days early, however, It got me 3 phone numbers from nice girls at the club (you pull it out to answer a text and they walk up and ask you about it), struck up MANY a conversation, and made my life nicer, faster, and better, oh and it made myself about a grand because I was able to answer my e-mails faster then anyone else and got that install contract."

Apple is an amazing company.

Now I can reup my .mac next month, and buy an extra dodad that I would not have gotten otherwise.
 
Regardless of the discussion about whether the iPhone price cuts are fair to early adopters, etc. one thing is pretty clear:

Apple screwed up the initial pricing of the iPhone. They should have introduced 8GB at $399 and 4GB at $299 from the start, if they can afford to sell them at these prices.

I wonder if this has anything to do with industry expectations about price increases for Nand Flash, DRAM and LCD panels for the second half of this year. There was pretty strong consensus among industry analysts that flash and DRAM prices were going to see a significant upward trend in the second half of this year, which has proven to be incorrect at this point. Flash prices continue to decline.

Even at $599, 8GB iPhone was a decent deal. At $399, it is a steal. Look at the prices of comparable devices from Nokia (N95), etc. Even the Nokia N800, which does not come with any type of phone functionality and weeny bit of onboard flash is selling for close to $400.

It is pretty amazing that Apple can sell the 8GB iPhone for $399. Maybe the kickbacks from AT&T is providing the entire profit margin.
 
let's all breathe on the olive branch

Nice gesture on the part of Jobs and Apple, indeed. (And very intelligent on their end to issue it as a store credit as opposed to a cash rebate.)

They didn't have to do it, as many people who were fuming with anger and saying that they would never buy another Apple product, etc. would've have been around to buy the next Apple innovation.
 
Come on you guys.....

Jobs had this letter crafted weeks/months in advance. Well in advance! They probably really considered revenue from the iPhone of $499, taking in $599, knowing they'd recycle $100 into their own products.

The basic message is, don't you guys just love Apple a little more! Didn't he just play with your emotions to get you to become even more loyal "because he did the right thing"? Doesn't apple play with your expectations?

You must look deeper into their tactics, it is marketing strategy based in psychology.

Now go buy your substandard Apple bluetooth headset like you want to now that you have the extra 100$!

Ha! I like this guy :)
 
EricBrian said:
I am still very disappointed by him. He should have done this even without the 'customer outrage.'

I want a new keyboard and a couple of other things... but, because I believe Apple screwed earlier adopters even now after this $100, I won't buy them from Apple. I am going to go with Logitech. Also, the $100 gift card for my niece for her birthday in 9 days won't be an Apple Gift Card like I had planned.
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And you think Apple cares?

Cmon', The Jobs man didn't have to do it...
 
Spot on for the Brand that is Apple

I'd like to plagiarize the best comment I read yesterday.
"....Jobs, you magnificent bastard."

Brands are created by companies, but they are owned by the people who adopt and make them enduring. Mr. Jobs clearly understands this and is big enough to acknowledge a misstep when he makes one with the core group. He has created a win-win situation that will further enrich Apple's brand.

To those who said stop whining, I hope you are big enough to acknowledge you can be wrong as well.
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1C28 Safari/419.3)

This is the kind of customer relations that has gotten me to shift every computer product in my house to Apple! GREAT JOB Steve!
 
What is your problem?

EricBrian said:
I am still very disappointed by him. He should have done this even without the 'customer outrage.'

I want a new keyboard and a couple of other things... but, because I believe Apple screwed earlier adopters even now after this $100, I won't buy them from Apple. I am going to go with Logitech. Also, the $100 gift card for my niece for her birthday in 9 days won't be an Apple Gift Card like I had planned.
Click to expand...

Would you be happier if Steve came to your house with a dozen roses and a bottle of red, got down on bended knee, and begged for forgiveness for making a buying season pricing decision? Seriously, do you have any practical connection to the world of commerce or are you on an tropical island somewhere with hot half naked native lasses bringing you drinks with umbrellas when you snap your fingers??;)
 
Wow talk about a change of opinion (I'm talking about iPhone owners, of which I am not one, not Apple) in a short time.

A $100 is far from a $200 refund, especially when one considers that between its margins on products directly from Apple and that $100 may make people spend more, and yet people by and large appear to have done a 180 in their anger towards Apple.

However, I'd say that Apple deserves these kudos. Not for making what is not a huge sacrifice, and probably a good investment for its strongest supporters (I would actually pay more for Apple stock after this), but for really leading the way. Not only did they remove a price that was in many ways too high in the long-run, but said they were wrong (how many presidential candidates have done that?) and acted swiftly to make up for it.

This move buys even more goodwill for an already popular company, and sets a good example for other businesses. Apple is doing better than Microsoft, and Google (which has similar leanings in many ways) is beating Yahoo. Imagine an airline, retailer (there are some, such as Costco), etc. acting like this, and you'd be willing to pay slightly higher margins for that service.

Above all, above product quality and customer service, it (even a small move like this) defines the spirit of the company. While habit has made me a PC user, you can bet I'm not hanging around any Microsoft forums (ummm, are there any other than tech support? Certainly not like the Apple following).

Congrats to all of those who can now get a free... shuffle?
 
onionperson654 said:
Wow talk about a change of opinion (I'm talking about iPhone owners, of which I am not one, not Apple) in a short time.

A $100 is far from a $200 refund, especially when one considers that between its margins on products directly from Apple and that $100 may make people spend more, and yet people by and large appear to have done a 180 in their anger towards Apple.

However, I'd say that Apple deserves these kudos. Not for making what is not a huge sacrifice, and probably a good investment for its strongest supporters (I would actually pay more for Apple stock after this), but for really leading the way. Not only did they remove a price that was in many ways too high in the long-run, but said they were wrong (how many presidential candidates have done that?) and acted swiftly to make up for it.

This move buys even more goodwill for an already popular company, and sets a good example for other businesses. Apple is doing better than Microsoft, and Google (which has similar leanings in many ways) is beating Yahoo. Imagine an airline, retailer (there are some, such as Costco), etc. acting like this, and you'd be willing to pay slightly higher margins for that service.

Above all, above product quality and customer service, it (even a small move like this) defines the spirit of the company. While habit has made me a PC user, you can bet I'm not hanging around any Microsoft forums (ummm, are there any other than tech support? Certainly not like the Apple following).

Congrats to all of those who can now get a free... shuffle?
Click to expand...

Now I can afford that Apple bluetooth headset :)
 
Wow, I guess Apple doesn't believe in the "free market" or "capitalism" like you were telling the "whiners" yesterday.

:rolleyes:
 
grovertdog said:
Would you be happier if Steve came to your house with a dozen roses and a bottle of red, got down on bended knee, and begged for forgiveness for making a buying season pricing decision? Seriously, do you have any practical connection to the world of commerce or are you on an tropical island somewhere with hot half naked native lasses bringing you drinks with umbrellas when you snap your fingers??;)
Click to expand...

Haha, don't worry, all the people saying they're not buying Apple anymore will forget all about it in a few weeks.
 
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