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Why I believe that iPhone will go back to unsubsidized pricing

tac22 said:
Personally i think this is a good deal. your not completely correct. it was to have been atleast like 12 months i think to get the partially subsidized price, and or else you need to by it at the 600/700 dollars and that still extends your contract. THey don'y always offer the 600/700 dollar non contract option, they have it with the 3gs right now becuase the new iphone is coming out soon. they did it last year with the 3g

you won't be able to get the new iphone without a contract even at that price

I think
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People get confused, thinking that it takes two years to be eligible for the 200 dollar upgrade. In reality, at least in the states, it takes about 12 months.

I bought my 3GS in October 2009 so AT&T says I am not eligible at the moment but I can buy a new iPhone for 400 or 500 dollars. But in October 2010, I will most likely be eligible for the upgrade. At least that's how it has worked for the last two years.
 
r.j.s said:
The iPhone has always been subsidized in the U.S. $599 was the subsidized price.
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Warbrain said:
You signed a contract for the original iPhone.
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There was a contract, but the first iPhone was definitely not subsidized. Some people bought really nice phones but at the subsidized right before the first iPhone came out. Then they went around and sold the phone they got for free or for dirt cheap on eBay and they made a profit. Then they bought their iPhone, because they were sill eligible for upgrading because we were paying the full price.

I myself would rather have the option to pay 499/599 for an iPhone without a contract, but those days are long gone because an iPhone that only costs $199/299 appeals to many more buyers, and Apple makes the same amount of money, if not more.
 
LoganT said:
People get confused, thinking that it takes two years to be eligible for the 200 dollar upgrade. In reality, at least in the states, it takes about 12 months.

I bought my 3GS in October 2009 so AT&T says I am not eligible at the moment but I can buy a new iPhone for 400 or 500 dollars. But in October 2010, I will most likely be eligible for the upgrade. At least that's how it has worked for the last two years.
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Well this is sort of the new system as far as i can tell with the iphone.

In past experiences with other phones, they would never give me a partially subsidized price even if i was at 16 months or something. this system is better. it doesn't make sense to say oh its gonna cost you $600 but next month you'll be eligible for $200
 
I'm eligible for upgrade in May, but I went to Best Buy to get a 3GS today and they wanted me to pay $499 for the 32GB. Hell no, isn't that what the price would normally be to buy the phone outright? I thought with the iPhone, you could get early upgrades since Apple seems to come out with a new one very year.

I'm now in a hard place. i'm in desperate need of the increased capacity a 3GS would offer, plus to have the faster CPU and double the RAM would be nice, as well as the camera. But we all know a new iPhone is coming in June.

The OS4 update will not fully support the 3G I'm guessing due to RAM limitations but wow...Upgrade now and lose out on the subsidized price of the new iPhone, or just wait?

A white 32GB 3GS would be very nice to have about now.
 
cwwilson said:
I'm eligible for upgrade in May, but I went to Best Buy to get a 3GS today and they wanted me to pay $499 for the 32GB. Hell no, isn't that what the price would normally be to buy the phone outright? I thought with the iPhone, you could get early upgrades since Apple seems to come out with a new one very year.

I'm now in a hard place. i'm in desperate need of the increased capacity a 3GS would offer, plus to have the faster CPU and double the RAM would be nice, as well as the camera. But we all know a new iPhone is coming in June.

The OS4 update will not fully support the 3G I'm guessing due to RAM limitations but wow...Upgrade now and lose out on the subsidized price of the new iPhone, or just wait?

A white 32GB 3GS would be very nice to have about now.
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No that is partially subsidized, its only $200 more than than the regular rate of 300.
If you wanted to by one without a contract it would be $700

plus i would wait for the new iphone around the end of june... and you'll be eligible by then for the better price anyways
 
Ah, okay. Well, guess I best get to deleting some music then. The new iPhone is only 2-ish months away anyway.
 
thats why if you live in a country that sells the iphone payandgo you buy it that way, it comes with 12 months free data so just use email for SMS and MMS and voip for calls, then you are free to upgrade at anytime and costs far less than being stuck in a contract for 18 months
 
On the question of whether the iPhone was 'subsidized' the answer is 'no'.

It was possible to walk into an Apple store and walk out with an un-opened iPhone box containing an un-activitated iPhone. Whether you had to sign a contract or not to activate it the phone itself was full-priced at $600.
 
Singin Hobo said:
On the question of whether the iPhone was 'subsidized' the answer is 'no'.

It was possible to walk into an Apple store and walk out with an un-opened iPhone box containing an un-activitated iPhone. Whether you had to sign a contract or not to activate it the phone itself was full-priced at $600.
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Exactly. I knew I forgot to mention this scenario in my above post. Yes a contract did exist, but people could easily not sign one and still be able to have AT&T + Data Plan.

-nick
 
With regards to the non-subsidization of the original iPhone, also remember that the original iPhone data plan was only $20/month as opposed to it being $30/month now. Yes it was EDGE only, but unlimited data plans for smartphones back then were still all AT LEAST $30/month. I remember that Verizon's smartphone data plan was actually $45/month, and you had no choice but to subscribe to it if you wanted to get a smartphone with them (which back then meant a blackberry or Windows CE).

So there ostensibly was some savings passed on to the user through the cell phone plan costs since AT&T wasn't subsidizing the iPhone.

I was just reading an article that compared iPhone costs USA to UK. There are like 4 or 5 carriers in the UK with the iPhone and it has become really competitive. You have all kinds of options to buy it off contract; 12, 18, or 24 month contract; different amounts of voice and data...

One of the examples was that if you signed up for a 24 month contract for unlimited calls, text, and web, it came to ~$68/month and you got an iPhone 3GS 16GB for free.

Here you have no real choice other than a 24 month contract, unlimited calls, text, and web is $120/month, and you still have to pay $199 for the iPhone 3GS.
 
Nobody likes to pay 600 bucks up front for a phone, even if over the long term a lower monthly service plan translates to savings versus a subsidized phone and more expensive plan...(assuming that's the case). People are conditioned to pay $200-300 tops for a new phone, not $500, not $600...which is why Apple had to eventually go to the classic cell phone business model. Most people consciously feel that a phone, even a hot smartphone is not worth that much money to acquire.

This is just not going to happen. You've always been able to buy an unsubsidized phone...but at&t doesn't give you a discount for the monthly service.
 
Applejuiced said:
Thats false.
It has to do with your contract and your average bill per month.
Everyone can update their device 18 months after they signed a 2 year agreement and others with monthly fee's over a certain amount per average every month are allowed to renew their contract and get a new device every 12 months.
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they didnt check my bill. just asked when i bought it. and said " if you bought it july, august, or september your eligible for the 200 dollar price.
 
MarlboroLite said:
Nobody likes to pay 600 bucks up front for a phone, even if over the long term a lower monthly service plan translates to savings versus a subsidized phone and more expensive plan...(assuming that's the case). People are conditioned to pay $200-300 tops for a new phone, not $500, not $600...which is why Apple had to eventually go to the classic cell phone business model. Most people consciously feel that a phone, even a hot smartphone is not worth that much money to acquire.

This is just not going to happen. You've always been able to buy an unsubsidized phone...but at&t doesn't give you a discount for the monthly service.
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There are a lot of confounding factors, but the rest of the world would disagree with you. Most people outside of the US buy their phones without a subscription. Its all a matter of the savings being passed down in the form of lower talk, text, and data costs.

I think that a lot of people are smart enough to know that paying $300 more up front and then saving $20/month over 2 years is the better option. And selling phones at full price doesn't preclude financing options, which is basically how phones in the US work now. And if you actually need to finance out your cell phone, you probably shouldn't be buying that cell phone.
 
goobot said:
they didnt check my bill. just asked when i bought it. and said " if you bought it july, august, or september your eligible for the 200 dollar price.
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Have them log into your account and give you the exact eligable upgrade date. Of you could do it yourself thru AT&T's site or mobile app.
It doesnt work like July, August or September for $200 type of thing.
 
tuna said:
There are a lot of confounding factors, but the rest of the world would disagree with you. Most people outside of the US buy their phones without a subscription. Its all a matter of the savings being passed down in the form of lower talk, text, and data costs.

I think that a lot of people are smart enough to know that paying $300 more up front and then saving $20/month over 2 years is the better option. And selling phones at full price doesn't preclude financing options, which is basically how phones in the US work now. And if you actually need to finance out your cell phone, you probably shouldn't be buying that cell phone.
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Im pretty sure "the rest of the world" also has options with pay as you go and buy your device full price or sign a contract and get a discount on your phone purchase.
 
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