'Unsubsidized' Price = Retail Price Now?

[lilmitchmitch]

I just got off the phone with an AT&T "Customer Service Professional" and was told that they had received an e-mail saying that if you are not upgrade eligible then you can purchase the iPhone3G for the price that they are selling them now $399/$499.

Has anyone else gotten this information or can confirm/deny this? Sorry if this has been discussed, but I regularly browse these forums and haven't seen anything like this (I've seen something like $564/$664, and other outrageous prices).

 

[wildcardd]

Interesting if the CSR was correct. That would make terminating and re-signing up cheaper.

Although now that I think of it, there is a $40 activation fee, so it is cheaper to purchase the non-upgrade eligible price.


I will just be happy for the speculation to be over. Just announce the price already.

 

[lilmitchmitch]

Just announce the price already.

Amen brotha!

The girl was laughing as we talked saying that she, herself, wanted one too, but still needed more clarification on it all.

 

[bacaramac]

My guess would be that prices will be more like the original iPhone prices. 499 and 599. Apple is getting revenue share on current price and that goes away with the 3g iPhone. So the higher price makes more sense. I don't see apple selling the phone at the current price and losing the revenue share on top of that.

 

[LoganT]

My guess would be that prices will be more like the original iPhone prices. 499 and 599. Apple is getting revenue share on current price and that goes away with the 3g iPhone. So the higher price makes more sense. I don't see apple selling the phone at the current price and losing the revenue share on top of that.

Aren't the already losing the revenue sharing when they sell it at $199?

 

[kkat69]

This whole thing is discussed in much detail in the ATT Apple forums.

Bottom line from what I read is, Stories vary from store to store, employee to employee, AND manager to manager. Same is true from CSR to CSR. Some say one thing while others say something else.

It's pretty clear either no one knows, they don't want to say, but one thing is certain, if they DO NOT know, then don't give out misleading information. Flat out say "we're unsure at this time, more information will be given out closer to the product release" and leave it at that.

There's CSR conversations posted that say the price is one thing, another conv said it'll be the same for all.

My impression is they don't know what's what and are going on their own internal rumors.

We'll know more in the weeks to come.

 

[bacaramac]

Aren't the already losing the revenue sharing when they sell it at $199?

AT&T is subsidizing the phone. Look at this way, the purchase at an Apple store as an extended purchase from an AT&T store. What I mean by this is Apple is still getting full price for each iPhone (example: 499 for 8Gb). They charge you up front for the 199 and AT&T is paying the difference to Apple. In the end Apple is whole and AT&T must collect from you to make them whole. Today, Apple sells the phone for 399 and gets a percentage of the monthly charges from AT&T.

So my thought is, sticker price for an 8Gb iPhone is 499.

Today: You pay 399 and AT&T ends up paying the 100 via revenue sharing.
Tomorrow (3G): You pay 199 and AT&T pays 300 via subsidy.

Both scenarios come out to 499 total price. This is just my guess, but I am not sure we will ever see the actual model.

 

[kkat69]

Both scenarios come out to 499 total price. This is just my guess, but I am not sure we will ever see the actual model.

I had done some quick generic figures using the previous iphone (single user plan) and the previous price versus the current iphone subsidy price and based on 1yr with the cheapest plan plus data and 200msg and it was VERY close to the same cost.

What the biggest feature is, it appears cheaper to the general consumer base up front.

Generic consumers know that if they want the iPhone or Treo 750 for the nice cheap price they have to agree to get service and stick it out.

I'm willing to get the iPhone for 199 just because I'm not shelling out 4-500 bucks up front. That's the biggest feature of the price drop + subsidy.

Most consumers these days are blind and pay monthly charges. Myself included some times.

Think of the subsidy price as a down payment on a car and att is the bank that you make payments on. Only bad thing is the unlocking, which is anyones guess if after contracts are up if they'll allow the unlocking. I for one am optimistic that in roughly 2 years they'll start allowing unlockings.