As the founder of a company that is in the media delivery business I am all for a cheaper iPhone. Just as Microsoft did when they started shipping Windows on CD only, Apple's move of making the iPhone more affordable will hopefully drive providers to support the technology, in this case WiFi. At the same time it should make other device manufacturers seriously consider incorporating WiFi (and the support thereof) into their product lines. Putting more WiFi enabled iPhones and iPod Touch's out there will only help my industry as a whole... eventually.My only gripe here is that it seems Apple took advantage of the loyalty of their avid fan base by making it so expensive in the beginning and then rapidly dropping the price 33% as soon as the initial sales were made. Yes, they've since come back and offered those fans $100 gift cards (which seems to have quieted the complaints) but as Andre pointed out in his comment Apple has received some value for that $100, only some of which will actually be claimed and spent in Apple stores anyway.
Had they launched the iPhone at $399 in the beginning - now that would have been huge. The standard follow-up for Apple would have been to release a 16gig model for $399 in time for Christmas. Either way they will drive great sales this Q4, and hopefully really drive connectivity.
1 comments:
Maybe they saw something in iPhone sales trends or felt that the Ipod Touch needed to be priced within about $100 of the iPhone. Either way they don't make this stuff up as they go along. I think they probably underestimated the response and went into full damage control. We always assume that Apple doesn't make these mistakes but they did. Assumptions based upon how the cell phone industry works. example - $400 Razr at launch - now 9.99 with contract could have played into their decision.
But this is Apple, it is different. It is as much a culture as a product.
I am pretty sure that they won't do it again. Your right, they only get one chance.
If the book is ever written it will be a great read.
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