Could a new $100 credit be on the way?
I have no insider info at all. Matter of fact, this is just wild speculation. But it just seems to me something like this would make sense, considering the difference in release times between the US and Europe.
Bare with me for a second, and forgive me in advance for the long post: what happened when they decided to drop the price of the iPhone so soon after the US release? Apple "volunteered" a store credit. Now, consider that the iPhone is a much different animal than, for instance, an iPod. When a new iPod came out, you could upgrade and gift your old unit to a loved one, use it in the car, whatever. An iPhone isn't something you keep two of, since it's not functional without a contract. Neither is something you necessarily pass down, since it would tie someone else up with a contract. So, there's less of an incentive to upgrade. What would be a solution to keep people upgrading (shelling the same amount or more money for a new unit whose production costs will probably have come down, ensuring Apple more profitablility on the hardware) and keep that service fee shared income rolling for years to come? Well, what if they released, say, a 3G iPhone soon after its European release (it will always be soon after its release somewhere) and offered a trade-in program where your old iPhone would be worth $100 on an upgrade? They could even sweeten that deal for AT&T (and sour it for us) by making you re-sign for a contract extension starting at the new unit's activation date. At the same time, it would somehow appease the European "early adopters," since they'd get an excuse to not think they just got taken for a ride so much.
Like I said, wild speculation, but it seems like it would make everyone happy. And by everyone, I mean everyone Apple cares about lately: themselves and AT&T. The consumers, as it's become the norm lately, would be royally had.