September 5, 2007

"This smacks a little of desperation, and it's very unlike Apple."

Apple slashes the price for iPhone.
"It will absolutely help sales - but at what cost?" asked Tim Beyers, an analyst at The Motley Fool research and investment group. "People who bought the iPhone weeks or months ago must really be annoyed, and with good reason they might think twice about being the first to buy future Apple products."
Eh. I'm not annoyed. I love my iPhone. If you don't have one, get one!

12 comments:

Unknown said...

I bought an iPhone less than a month ago, so I'm a little annoyed. Don't get me wrong I love the phone (and my wife was playing around with it last night and loved it, so I think that I know what I'll be getting her for her birthday). I will be returning the phone, eating the restocking fee and getting a new one at the new price and save $160.

al said...

Sounds like Apple is a bit desperate.

I'd be happy to buy one - for $79.00 or less. And it has to work with my carrier.

Unknown said...

I don't really think that they are desperate at all. I think that a company that sells 1 million phones in a quarter is not too bad at all. In addition to that, it was the best selling smartphone in July. Based on those numbers, I don't think that they are desperate. I have a feeling that this was the plam all along.

Jeff said...

I don't think any early adopter is surprised when the price of the bleeding edge gadget they just bought is reduced. They expect it.

al said...

On second thought - I wonder if the rumors/tech previews of the Google phone have Apple trying to get market share a little faster.

Unknown said...

I have to admit I'm surprised by the magnitude of the drop. I honestly wouldn't have blinked if it had gone down $100. But $200... a full 33%... wow!

Of course, this doesn't mean I'm gonna chunk this thing, it's still my favorite toy!

Revenant said...

I think that a company that sells 1 million phones in a quarter is not too bad at all.

Perhaps. But, according to the article:

Analysts said the price drop would definitely boost sales, possibly allowing Apple to achieve its self-proclaimed goal of selling 1 million iPhones by the end of September.

Apple hasn't met their "million iPhones" target yet -- and, from the wording, will quite possibly not manage to do so even with a $200 price cut. Two months out from product launch they're slashing the price of one model by 33% and dropping the other model entirely. There's no way to spin that as anything other than bad.

dick said...

Interesting bit about their selling a million phones in a quarter. There was an article in Tech Republic just yesterday that said Apple sold more phones on the first 2 days than they have sold since and they have only sold 220K in the current quarter. They are trying to sell a million in the first year but at the rate they are going now they are not going to hit that figure either, hence the price cut.

I think if they had made the iPhone open to more carriers it would have been better. The major complaints that the tech publications are seeing are that the carrier Apple chose is one of the worst in most areas of the country.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Since that young hacker did his thing, there are more who are trying to open the iPhone up to the various carriers. If they succeed, then I think sales will take off again. For Apple's sake I hope they do.

JCEstlin said...

I bought on I-day and have defended the product despite the inexcusably horrible service on ATT. I have continued to say that Apple would improve it and tried to justify the very expensive cost. No more. This price cut is an insult to those of us who thought a product was revolutionary and innovative and worth supporting. Now I'll tell people to wait for the next best thing from a company that values loyalty.

paul a'barge said...

thanks,
I did not know about the price drop. I had to come here to find out.

KLDAVIS said...

My guess is that it's AT&T who are desperate. They saw what Apple did to Motorola and it could have been them next. As soon as someone finds a way to get a integrated E-mail app into the iPod Touch, there'll be no reason to buy an iPhone, because the worst feature of the iPhone is the phone.

Galvanized said...

I think it's funny that those who bought an iPhone within 14 days of the drop, but have it still in the box, UNOPENED, may get a $200 refund. I mean, WHO in his right mind would buy an iPhone and leave it unopened this long? That's right...eBay resellers. Good for you fellas...Apple obviously supports you. :)