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More iPhone Details - $599 4GB and $649 8GB? [Updated]
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people are forgetting about service providers subsidies, have a look at these - OK add a little for shipping from the UK but not much (~$50) the iPhone really isn't any different to comparable phones (first link) and look at the price of the K800i, a decent highish end phone.
http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=131375
http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=132711
http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=131375
http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=132711
with this information it becomes somewhat clearer...why releasing a video ipod or ipod phone when one can release a video ipod phone. As you say - that will blow people's minds. Apple knows that they have to push the envelope in order to enter the market and to stay there...
WiFi / WiMax iPhone?
Will the iPhone support WiFi or WiMax? The rumored prices are way too high. Mac them a 3rd-1/2 of the rumored price and make them support WiFi and WiMax and Skype or iChat etc, then yea I'd buy. I'm sick of cell phone providers, contracts, monthly fees, etc.
Will the iPhone support WiFi or WiMax? The rumored prices are way too high. Mac them a 3rd-1/2 of the rumored price and make them support WiFi and WiMax and Skype or iChat etc, then yea I'd buy. I'm sick of cell phone providers, contracts, monthly fees, etc.
You at Uni in Manchester?
This price doesn't shock me in the slightest.
Also, my 3rd Gen iPod 20GB which is still alive cost me £320 or $640 when I bought it. I wouldn't pay that for an ipod now. No chance. I just happened to then. Love it.
Or, UK is so far behind. Years ago one yar contract was the norm, now almost no company offers a single year contract.
Lets not forget there are supposed to be two completely different phones from Apple next year. The first is a basic candybar model resembling an elongated nano due 1Q and the second a much more advanced multifunction device that has a large touchscreen screen and virtual interface due 2Q or 3Q. There can easily be two different configurations of each phone as well. I think specs and pricing has gotten mixed up between the two at this point as only one model is mentioned.
Umm...this bears repeating so I'll quote it. These prices are NOT out of line for unlocked phones at full retail price, people!!! Nokia's top two "N-Series" phones cost $599 (for the N80), and $649 (for the N93).
These prices have NOTHING to do with the final price that the customer pays with contract. Everyone shocked by the price knows nothing about the economics of the cell phone industry.
As a few more data point, here are prices from the SonyEricsson site:
http://shopwireless.sonyericsson.com/buy/products/cat/66
Note that the one "smartphone" on the list, the P990, is $749. The much more basic, mass-market W810i is still $474.
On the Treo site, the 700p sells for "$619-$649" retail:
http://web.palm.com/products/communicators/config/zip_entry.jhtml?categoryId=270003
The Samsung Blackjack and Motorola Q both also sell for about $500.
So Apple's prices are completely in line with what other companies are offering. But take heart - with a contract the prices to the consumer should be much lower. For example, the same W810i phone that SE is selling for $474 on its website is fairly readily available for FREE with a 2-year contract if you shop around. From $474 on the SE website to FREE with a 2-year contract. Think about that. That means that it's not inconceivable that the $649 iPhone might be available to the customer for about $200 with a new 2-year contract.
I personally think this discussion may be a mute point. We need info from a reliable source. Historically when analysts put out rumors they tend to wrong.
Don't forget contract
Hey Guys
Don't forget that most phone companies charge much less for phones when you take a contract. So even if the prices are true I don,t see how a phone companie could charge 500$ to 1000$ for a phone. For Instance here in Canada we have a 4GB phone for 100$ with a contract of a certian amount years usualy 3 years. So lets wait and see.
Hey Guys
Don't forget that most phone companies charge much less for phones when you take a contract. So even if the prices are true I don,t see how a phone companie could charge 500$ to 1000$ for a phone. For Instance here in Canada we have a 4GB phone for 100$ with a contract of a certian amount years usualy 3 years. So lets wait and see.
From a consumers point of view, the US has regressed. From the Telecom providers point of view, things in the US are better.
I know the rumors say Cingular, but are there any other rumors that this might be one of the first popularized VOIP cell phones? There was that rumor a while back saying Apple was not going with a carrier, and it would be quite revolutionary for apple to turn the most successful MP3 player into the most successful VOIP cell phone..... don't the markets for MP3 players and consumer VOIP products tend to intersect too? and this would explain the ichat thing...
Look, the phone companies are making a killing, and the phone makers are making a killing. Some of these $600 phones cost like $30 to make.
The subsidies are a bunch of bull, they are selling you a phone with a contract at a price that is closer to what you should be paying with no contract and they are still making a killing.
The cell phone industry is a big rip off in my opinion and we continue to buy millions of these phones.
Keep an eye on the cars being driven by the better salesmen at some of the stores, consumers are getting rip-off big time. Any product you make thens of millions of and sell every years is not likely to cost much to manufacture, and if you sell it for 10 to 20 times the cost and then telling them that they are getting a deal with a contract that locks you in to their network, it's outregious. Sorry for the rant.
Everyone is so acclimated to paying $0-50 for a new phone. Remember that most of those phones are just the basics now, and with a contract.
Will we get apple care with the phones too? Or would we pay the provider for their insurance? How about upgrade possibilities? I'm sure the iPhone, like the iPods, will get upgrades every once in a while (usually right after I buy something) after the initial release.
It's also funny how many replys this post got in such a short time! 300 in a few hours! Yikes! Everyone (including me) has an thought. Mostly shock.
Will we get apple care with the phones too? Or would we pay the provider for their insurance? How about upgrade possibilities? I'm sure the iPhone, like the iPods, will get upgrades every once in a while (usually right after I buy something) after the initial release.
It's also funny how many replys this post got in such a short time! 300 in a few hours! Yikes! Everyone (including me) has an thought. Mostly shock.
Too expensive. Cingular only? That's two negative leaning towards flop. I hope the prices are wrong and it's not an exclusive because I won't leaqve T-Mobile to buy an Apple phone no matter how cool or how cheap they lower the price. Cingular is teh suX0rs! (did I type that right?)
I agree...
I have a ruler that measures tenths of an inch as well as the usually half of half of half of a half.
It's still weird, though
Too expensive. Cingular only? That's two negative leaning towards flop. I hope the prices are wrong and it's not an exclusive because I won't leaqve T-Mobile to buy an Apple phone no matter how cool or how cheap they lower the price. Cingular is teh suX0rs! (did I type that right?
If you remember the Razor was waaaaaay too expensive at first ($550 os so) and "Cingular only" for the first year, and they couldn't keep them in stock, but how easily we all forget these things. I'm no Cingular fan but been with them for 3 years and not had even 1 problem.
Miss Frunkle, you got bad intel...
One of your ambitious assistants is trying to pass off the "True Video iPod" rumors as iPhone rumors. That's right, the full-screen-virtual-click-wheel-$649-gadget is actually the 6th generation iPod (BO-ring), not the iPhone.
Not that EITHER OF THESE THINGS ACTUALLY EXIST. But, whatevs, the tech press seems hellbent on reporting truthy things these days... did you hear the one about the iTunes Store's sales crashing through the basement?
One of your ambitious assistants is trying to pass off the "True Video iPod" rumors as iPhone rumors. That's right, the full-screen-virtual-click-wheel-$649-gadget is actually the 6th generation iPod (BO-ring), not the iPhone.
Not that EITHER OF THESE THINGS ACTUALLY EXIST. But, whatevs, the tech press seems hellbent on reporting truthy things these days... did you hear the one about the iTunes Store's sales crashing through the basement?
They must be joking, who will buy this. 4GB iPod nano+phone functionality (sim-free)+apple rip-off factor should add to no more than £180 in this case, and that's what I would consider reasonable (remember it's apple).
But can this report be trusted? Or could this be part of a negative preemptive campaign?
But can this report be trusted? Or could this be part of a negative preemptive campaign?