Buzz Out Loud Lounge: BAD news on iPhone 3GS pricing...it's not really $299/$399
BAD news on iPhone 3GS pricing...it's not really $299/$399
by neilmitch - 6/8/09 4:00 PMFor those who upgraded to an iPhone 3G when or shortly after it came out, the cost to upgrade from AT&T online is not the price discussed during the keynote. That is due to the 2 year contracts we all signed. I am being asked for $399 for the 16GB or $499 for the 32GB. This could kill the flood to upgrade to a trickle and seriously damage Apple's reputation due to their tied in AT&T relationship. See http://arst.ch/316 for more (complete URL at http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/06/att-on-tethering-iphone-3g-s-pre-orders-early-upgrades.ars)
All carriers do this....
by paintguru - 6/8/09 4:32 PM In reply to: BAD news on iPhone 3GS pricing...it's not really $299/$399 by neilmitchSprint is the same way with the Pre. $150 credit if you are at 23 months on your contract (or 22 or something like that). This is not unique to AT&T.
SEVENTY BUCKS for tethering!?!?!!?
by robstak - 6/8/09 6:25 PM In reply to: BAD news on iPhone 3GS pricing...it's not really $299/$399 by neilmitchthe pricing is one thing and im not even going to get into that BS...
but, dear ATT---
just say no tethering, ATT don't pull that stupid S, it's insulting...
and if you think you are gonna charge more for MMS you have another thing coming...
grrr!!!
Remember the iPhone is subidised
by Nicholas Buenk - 6/8/09 8:59 PM In reply to: BAD news on iPhone 3GS pricing...it's not really $299/$399 by neilmitchQuote from the site.
"Further, AT&T also says that no-commitment pricing will be available for the iPhone 3G S. That will run you $499 for an 8GB iPhone 3G, $599 for a 16GB iPhone 3G S, and $699 for a 32GB iPhone 3G S"
There that's the real price of the iPhone, So you're still getting $200 off for the 32GB by upgrading within a contract, what do you expect to get 2 subidised phones in one contract???
"Subsidization"
by neilmitch - 6/8/09 9:13 PM In reply to: Remember the iPhone is subidised by Nicholas BuenkI understand how the subsidy works. I want to avoid the details of the subsidy discussion for a second. The questions/issues to me are:
1) How did Apple do this last year for 2G->3G upgrades and why can't this be repeated
2) I assumed Apple WANTS people to upgrade and therefore it is in their self interest to migrate as many of the 2G *and* 3G to the 3GS
3) Finally, those of us paying ~$100/month have paid for the subsidy already and AT&T would be tying us all in again for another 2 years (an additional year to what they have us for now)
Reading between the lines and possibly making 2+2 = 5 1/2 ... I assume either Apple is also a little ticked at AT&T over this and will look to break out of their exclusive US carrier relationship at the first opportunity, or more likely, Apple doesn't *need* to sell new hardware to early adopters now. This could be either because early adopters (like us) are now a small % of their business and/or that Apple is getting so much revenue from us anyway from services (% of our monthly AT&T bills, iPhone Apps, music etc) it no longer needs us to get us to upgrade to continue that business.
My 2c
Neil
Its just simple math.
by minimalist - 6/9/09 9:12 AM In reply to: "Subsidization" by neilmitchThe first gen iPhone was not subsidized so of course AT&T and Apple let those users upgrade for the same cost as new users. They got you to sign on for another 2 years and apple sold more hardware. It was a win-win situation.
But the 3G was heavily subsidized. Notice the plans went up 15 bucks a month each month with the 3G - 15x24 = 360 dollars. Which means AT&T actually sold those 8 and 16 GB 3G iPhones for about 560 and 660 dollars respectively. If they give you another subsidy a year early they only get half of that 360 dollar ad they lose money. I guess they could make you sign a 3 year contract to get all their money but then everyone would ***** about that too.
The real problem is that Americans only think about upfront costs and many are developing nasty entitlement mentalities. As long as we continue to feed the subsidization system we will have to live with it's pitfalls. If you make a deal with the devil then you can't complain when he comes to collect.
Smaller AT&T contract might INCREASE their revenue
by neilmitch - 6/9/09 8:44 AM In reply to: Remember the iPhone is subidised by Nicholas BuenkI'd like to throw out a hypothisis. If the AT&T contract was a 12 month contract (rather than today's 24 months) and there are new iPhone every year, could AT&T achieve a higher revenue from additional iPhone devices & services from constantly upgrading users? I don't know, but I bet this could be made to work to AT&T advantage if someone at AT&T spent some serious thought on the revenue stream across multiple years.
sure...if people didn't mind paying another 15 dollars/month
by minimalist - 6/9/09 9:15 AM In reply to: Smaller AT&T contract might INCREASE their revenue by neilmitchfor their plans. Something tells me that wouldn't go over very well.
US carriers get away with high margins
by Nicholas Buenk - 6/9/09 9:17 PM In reply to: sure...if people didn't mind paying another 15 dollars/month by minimalistAT&T is seriously ripping Americans off, I in only Australia only paid $60($48USD) with no upfront fee at all, fully subidised. Granted there is a data cap of 500MB though...
US carriers get away with charging upfront and make you think that's just the cost of the phone when it's more like 1/3 of the phones real price. Plus they charge a massive monthly fee. AT&T must be getting a massive profit margin. These prices seem like a scam to me.
Perhaps it's the lack of data caps, they put a high price on the plan to discourage use so thee network is not overloaded and make up for the lower sales in profit margin.
Those prices are industry standards in the US
by minimalist - 6/10/09 9:57 AM In reply to: US carriers get away with high margins by Nicholas BuenkIf the prices are a scam then all 4 of the major US carriers are guilty of collusion because these subsidies and plan prices are pretty much industry standards (give or take plus or minus 10 dollars). Actually, 30 bucks a month with no cap is low for a data plan in the US. All the other carriers pretty much charge 50 dollars for a 3G data plan and most have 5GB caps or less.
Americans expect all you can eat pricing plans and do not respond well to caps (at least with their data) so the Australian model isn't going to work here. Heck, I easily exceed 500MB with my 1G iPhone running on EDGE. I can't imagine what a fast 3G connection will do to my usage.
The only way we fix these problems is to ditch the subsidization model and given how much people howled about the original iPhone prices and how quickly they sold after they "halved" the price to $199 I'd say Americans aren't interested in being honest about the real prices we pay.
500MB
by Nicholas Buenk - 6/10/09 11:23 PM In reply to: Those prices are industry standards in the US by minimalistIs more than you'd think, that's a lot of web pages! It'll take streaming to easily exceed it.
Anyway having wifi on the phone is vital in Australia too, reduces your data usage.
PS
by Nicholas Buenk - 6/10/09 11:32 PM In reply to: 500MB by Nicholas BuenkI also want to make you understand that I paid nothing for the phone, it's fully subidised in the monthly plan of $60($48USD)! The carrier specifies in the bill exaclty how much is 'handset repayment'. They also offers the phone out of contract at $850($680USD). Pay an extra $80($64USD) to unlock it.
You are paying. You are just in restrictions
by minimalist - 6/11/09 6:28 AM In reply to: PS by Nicholas BuenkWhereas we are paying more each month in our plans. Everyone pays. Its just gets accounted for in different ways.
But I'd never agree to such a restrictive contract. Even with wifi at work I still go way over 500MB a month. And its just going to get worse with video downloading and uploading now on the 3gs. Hell a single movie rental from iTunes is 500 or so MB minimum.
Won't be upgrading then..
by Desdichado - 6/9/09 11:38 AM In reply to: BAD news on iPhone 3GS pricing...it's not really $299/$399 by neilmitchI was seriously on Apple ready to buy my 3G-S to arrive on the release date when I realized they were going to make me pay full price. Ridiculous. No upgrade for me... And by the time I can upgrade, I might wait for the next one or even for iPhone Verizon since I have been sooooooooooo unhappy with AT&T. Stupid marketing guys! You get to keep me for another year if you let me upgrade for free. Instead, I can't wait to leave your grasp.
GilSD
Big deal
by skellener - 6/9/09 12:35 PM In reply to: Won't be upgrading then.. by DesdichadoWhy not simply keep your iPhone 3G and buy a Flip HD. It does HD quality video for about $200. No contract!
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