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Cingular/Rogers Not Subsidizing iPhone Cost?
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This is so amusing, hearing someone who'd spend $500 on a chemical to burn in a boat engine over the period of 2-4 days whine about a $500 phone. SO amusing, especially the whole "When I was your age, I had to walk to school through 40 miles of snow, uphill both ways, to get to school! Sheee....ut." A computer is just a commodity for most people, and and Mac's have not always been as price-competitive as they are now. And the people on this forum buy them. my old GHz Tibook was $3200 with the 1GB of RAM in 2002. It's still plugging strong, and I have no regrets. EVERYTHING you can buy is just a commodity to most people, whether it's your car, your house, your clothes, your phone, your shoes, your pen, your sunglasses. Yet, some people buy Porsches. Some people buy Gucci. Some people buy Allen-Edmonds. Some People Buy Pelikan Pens. Some people buy Oakleys... Friggin' materialist idiots, all of them! gosh!
Main reason. Apple and cingular got together to create a new service unavailable on any other service. Instant voicemail. You can browse your voice mail on the screen of your phone. Listening to them in any order you want as if they were actually stored on your phone. This is an intense architecture with server and client software interacting. Cingular is sending the screen info to the phone. The phone is deciding which files on Cingular server to play.
So even if you were to unlock your phone and get it to work on Tmobile, stuff like this would be DOA.
With the system as it is, Apple has to pair up with someone. Cingular is the largest service in the US. The second is Verizon. Verizon is substantially more expensive. Tmobile is substantially less expensive, but just doesn't have the service area. Apple could've started their own cell phone company/mvo but that would be additional marketing and overhead and probably not exactly profitable. They'd have to get the service from someone, with the likely candidate Cingular. Renting the time from them would just kill any profits.
You didn't see Apple starting an internet company when the internet got big did you? Oh, wait, they did. And it bombed. It was called eWorld. All it was was AOL with Apple's name and interface on it. It was even the same phone number you dialed!
Ha! This is the best post so far. I've been using Cingular for a while now, and yes they want MONEY! People better be ready to pay atleast 50 per month for a plan to use all those nifty features on the iPhone. Or you could try the pay per use option and get a cell phone bill the size of a car note!
Anyone who remotely believes this rumor has OBVIOUSLY never had a cell phone, especially with Cingular.
Trust me, from vast experience, CINGULAR WANTS YOUR MONEY
ONLY thing I could forsee is an "Iphone" plan, around 50 bucks a month with basic plan minutes, web, etc. But you better damn well believe you will be paying that 50, it sure won't be free.
Any more details on when the iPhone comes to Canada? Apple.ca doesn't even have the iPhone on its web site right now...
I wonder if Apple is really prepared to enter the cell phone market?
Apple typically doesn't discount anything. I know that when the Razr first came out it cost around $599.00 with a 2 year plan. Now you can get a new razr for free or $29.00 with a 2 year plan.
Is Apple really prepared to drop iphone prices as the technology ages? They have never done that in the past.
Apple is not letting Cingular discount the phone with a contract. So is the phone ever going to come down in price or is Apple going to keep it high priced. I suspect that if Apple chooses to go it's own way that eventually the competition will come up with cheaper similar products.
It may take a lot more than a better UI to really make a successful sustained run in this highly competitive market.
Apple typically doesn't discount anything. I know that when the Razr first came out it cost around $599.00 with a 2 year plan. Now you can get a new razr for free or $29.00 with a 2 year plan.
Is Apple really prepared to drop iphone prices as the technology ages? They have never done that in the past.
Apple is not letting Cingular discount the phone with a contract. So is the phone ever going to come down in price or is Apple going to keep it high priced. I suspect that if Apple chooses to go it's own way that eventually the competition will come up with cheaper similar products.
It may take a lot more than a better UI to really make a successful sustained run in this highly competitive market.
Last time I played with any of those other devices they just plain were horrible. Even palm has lost sight of simplicity. None of them are worth smack for shuffling through photos or storing and shuffling through music. Their calendars are weak. Their general software is hard to use and inefficient. They have little memory and slow processors. The do not surf the web. They surf some bizzare stock and weather web world. Yee haw.
Oh, great they run excel or msword or something like that. Well, that's not what the phone is. Maybe in the future when apple finishes up wth the iWork suite. There's no reason for them not to. But first things first I guess.
But I will get the iPhone. My world is becoming more and more syncronized across phone, computer and ipod. I carry and old 3G ipod that only has 15 gig memory. I have a crappy Moto flip phone that syncs (sort of) with my ical, and address book. I use iPhoto for my pics along with .mac. Now if my web browser and email could also sync and operate decently on my phone along with itunes and iphoto, then 90% of my computer world would go with me wherever with the simplicity of Apple design of software and hardware. I can't ask for more than that. And at $499 for a 4 gig device with a screen that size, it's relatively cheap compared to these cruddy blackberry things running some sorty of pokey interface for $400-$500 themselves.
Can MR not declare a temporary moratium on iphone wittering until some FACTS come out?
So you're complaining about rumors...on a RUMORS site. What a freaking genius.
What are you talking about? I guess you don't remember when apple was selling iPods for $499?
Or course they are a corporation, just like Apple just want your money.
People better be ready to pay atleast 50 per month for a plan to use all those nifty features on the iPhone. Or you could try the pay per use option and get a cell phone bill the size of a car note!
Not nessessarily, they are using this to switch people, if you can get a similar phone for $300 for $50/month for 2 years, then to get people to buy the iPhone you'd probably charge $35-$40/month for 2 years, as you get more money up front with the iPhone which helps with cashflow.
Amazon was just covering their backs, they didn't know whether $600 was the subsidised or unsubsidised price, they could always reduce the price afterwards before shipping the phone if $600 was what they charged. I'd expect the high end iPhone to be less than £400 in the UK.
amazon doesn't know anything more than the rest of us.
They also posted iLife '07 and iWork '07 placeholders for MWSF.
arn
No they weren't. They were orignally released for $299.00 and $399.00. Over the life of those products Apple only dropped the price $50.00.
To address the lower priced market, Apple introduced completely different products.
Sure the original ipod added features as the price was maintained but you could never buy an original gen 1 15 GB ipod for less than $299.00.
However in the cell phone market not only do the phones add features they drop dramatically in price as they age. Like I said the Moto Razr went from $600.00 to free with contract in less than 3 years.
Is Apple really going to let the iphone do the same thing? Or instead are they going to keep the price high and slowly add minor design and feature changes.
My bet is that they control the price and never lower it by more than $50.00 for the same model as it ages. Instead they will introduce new models with fewer features to address the low cost market.
I am not sure if this approach will fly because eventually the iphone mystic will wear off and people will want one free with a contract or simply buy a close knock-off from moto when it eventually surfaces.
Cingular rate plans
Being a 4yr satisfied cingular customer, I'm glad to see the phone come their way. Looking at their rate plans and doing some quick calculations, I think the rate plan will look something like this:
500 anytime mins w/ rollover
unlimited nights/weekends
unlimited mobile-to-mobile
unlimited data
$60 per month/24 months.
This is based on Cingular bumping their 450 plan to 500 but keeping the same price and cutting the unlimited data from about $50 to $20/month.
This is based on a subsidized phone($300) with an unlimited data($50x24months) and the 450min($40x24) plan generating $2460 in total revenue. So for the unsubsidized iPhone to generate the same revenue over the same period, the monthly rate would be $81.66/month. But $500 up front and a 24 month commitment is a large pill to swallow. So they have to create a perceived value. With this all costing $60/month, they will generate $1940 over the life of the contract, which amounts to basically a free iPhone. But the increase in customers should more than offset any hit to the bottom line.
Being a 4yr satisfied cingular customer, I'm glad to see the phone come their way. Looking at their rate plans and doing some quick calculations, I think the rate plan will look something like this:
500 anytime mins w/ rollover
unlimited nights/weekends
unlimited mobile-to-mobile
unlimited data
$60 per month/24 months.
This is based on Cingular bumping their 450 plan to 500 but keeping the same price and cutting the unlimited data from about $50 to $20/month.
This is based on a subsidized phone($300) with an unlimited data($50x24months) and the 450min($40x24) plan generating $2460 in total revenue. So for the unsubsidized iPhone to generate the same revenue over the same period, the monthly rate would be $81.66/month. But $500 up front and a 24 month commitment is a large pill to swallow. So they have to create a perceived value. With this all costing $60/month, they will generate $1940 over the life of the contract, which amounts to basically a free iPhone. But the increase in customers should more than offset any hit to the bottom line.
What is the big deal? Really? No... really?!
PHONE PROVIDER:
Like it or not, Apple has gone with Cingular. I'm sure if Steve Jobs had the time, he'd show you all the facts and figures along with pie charts, graphs and reports to berate , mock and humiliate you--making you run out of the board room, wishing you'd never ask "Why Cingular?" Oh, you'd know WHY? He'd shove those numbers right up your boat. (That one's for NEMO fans.)
2 years is standard for all the phones I've ever walked into a store and got signed up. What's the big deal with a 2 year plan? Yeah. No one WANTS to be stuck with a provider but it's the situation now. Plus, with a MULTI-YEAR contract with Cingular (which I've read is going to be at least 3 years), it's not like you could even leave with the iPhone and go somewhere else. You'll still be Cingular in June of 2009 whether you like it or not -- IF you want to continue to use Apple's phone.
THE GOODS:
"It's an iPod, a phone and an internet mobile communicator." Compared to the current 4GB iPod mini ALONE (which retails for $200) it totally slams it. If the phone never existed, people would line up around the block for twice that much to get a 4GB touchscreen ipod that is as slick as it is. Add in the actual PHONE that does all kinds of cool stuff AND throw in the best INTERNET experience people have ever experienced on a phone before... I can't see where people are having a hard time with the device's price.
By the time this ships, Apple will have spent untold millions in R&D just bring it to market. It is a product unlike any other and serves several important functions and an all-in-one device that is incredible cool. That has value. Deal with it.
PHONE PROVIDER:
Like it or not, Apple has gone with Cingular. I'm sure if Steve Jobs had the time, he'd show you all the facts and figures along with pie charts, graphs and reports to berate , mock and humiliate you--making you run out of the board room, wishing you'd never ask "Why Cingular?" Oh, you'd know WHY? He'd shove those numbers right up your boat. (That one's for NEMO fans.)
2 years is standard for all the phones I've ever walked into a store and got signed up. What's the big deal with a 2 year plan? Yeah. No one WANTS to be stuck with a provider but it's the situation now. Plus, with a MULTI-YEAR contract with Cingular (which I've read is going to be at least 3 years), it's not like you could even leave with the iPhone and go somewhere else. You'll still be Cingular in June of 2009 whether you like it or not -- IF you want to continue to use Apple's phone.
THE GOODS:
"It's an iPod, a phone and an internet mobile communicator." Compared to the current 4GB iPod mini ALONE (which retails for $200) it totally slams it. If the phone never existed, people would line up around the block for twice that much to get a 4GB touchscreen ipod that is as slick as it is. Add in the actual PHONE that does all kinds of cool stuff AND throw in the best INTERNET experience people have ever experienced on a phone before... I can't see where people are having a hard time with the device's price.
By the time this ships, Apple will have spent untold millions in R&D just bring it to market. It is a product unlike any other and serves several important functions and an all-in-one device that is incredible cool. That has value. Deal with it.
So I came across this article and I'm wondering if anyone can explain something... I'm pretty good at following the details of stuff like this, but maybe I'm missing something. Either that or the editor of the article is just a dumb ****.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/entertainment/16549843.htm
SO WHAT DOES THE IPHONE DO BETTER?
The iPhone works directly with iTunes; it downloads over ATT/Cingular's EDGE network, which is available in more parts of the country than ATT/Cingular's faster 3G network; a 2 gigabyte card costs an additional $100.
A 2 GB card? What the? I'm assuming he doesn't mean sim card... but maybe there are some new crazy advances that have gone on recently that I'm unaware of... not that you would need a 2GB sim card.
Anyway... I'll stop my rambling. Anyone know what this is all about, or is the editor talking out of his ass?
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/entertainment/16549843.htm
SO WHAT DOES THE IPHONE DO BETTER?
The iPhone works directly with iTunes; it downloads over ATT/Cingular's EDGE network, which is available in more parts of the country than ATT/Cingular's faster 3G network; a 2 gigabyte card costs an additional $100.
A 2 GB card? What the? I'm assuming he doesn't mean sim card... but maybe there are some new crazy advances that have gone on recently that I'm unaware of... not that you would need a 2GB sim card.
Anyway... I'll stop my rambling. Anyone know what this is all about, or is the editor talking out of his ass?
I totally agree... I just got the Blackberry Pearl when it came out for T-Mobile, and I signed up for a 2 year contract... I still paid $200 for the phone, too. It's 2 years, and that sucks, but if you're really that unhappy with the service, you can pay a cancellation fee, which is only about $150 to $175 and get out of it. But then you can't use the iPhone (until someone figures out how to unlock it... heh).
So it's not like you HAVE to use Cingular for 2 years... you can get out of it... just don't plan on using the iPhone anywhere else... (except as the widescreen video ipod)
I don't think he was talking about "originally"... the 4GB ipod photo 60gb was sold for $599 when it was first released. Same price as the 8GB iPhone.
What's the problem?
It's all relative...
Should a 100" Plasma cost $20,000?
Some say yes. Many say no. Generally, the ones saying no are the ones that really want it but just don't have the funds to get it. Bill Gates is enjoying his 100" Plasma, by the way.
Another type that'll say no are those in MY boat. Do I have the money to get one? Yes. Can I justify the COST vs. MY LIFE? No. I love iPods. Have owned about 6 or 7. BUT, I use a CELL PHONE once or twice a day (at the most) and have never done mobile EMAIL, INTERNET, SMS etc. I'm 40. I don't have a lot of friends who are into the whole texting thing. I like to surf the internet at home on my Apple 23" Display or chat with a few friends with iChat on the same screen. I want my phone to be simple, inexpensive and very durable as I'm a klutz. I want my phone to make calls/receive calls. Anything else is a bonus. My Motorola phone just happens to have bluetooth (bonus), I can create my own desktop and music ringtones (bonus), camera (bonus) videocamera (bonus) -- I just don't care. Will I buy an iPhone. No.
However, I know tons of folks who are on their phones constantly, Email, internet, SMS, music -- I realize that just because the iPhone doesn't fit into MY life, doesn't mean it won't fit into 10,000,000 others.
Now... where is that sixth generation 100GB iPod with the 5" touchscreen!? THAT... I could lay down $599 for.
Should a 100" Plasma cost $20,000?
Some say yes. Many say no. Generally, the ones saying no are the ones that really want it but just don't have the funds to get it. Bill Gates is enjoying his 100" Plasma, by the way.
Another type that'll say no are those in MY boat. Do I have the money to get one? Yes. Can I justify the COST vs. MY LIFE? No. I love iPods. Have owned about 6 or 7. BUT, I use a CELL PHONE once or twice a day (at the most) and have never done mobile EMAIL, INTERNET, SMS etc. I'm 40. I don't have a lot of friends who are into the whole texting thing. I like to surf the internet at home on my Apple 23" Display or chat with a few friends with iChat on the same screen. I want my phone to be simple, inexpensive and very durable as I'm a klutz. I want my phone to make calls/receive calls. Anything else is a bonus. My Motorola phone just happens to have bluetooth (bonus), I can create my own desktop and music ringtones (bonus), camera (bonus) videocamera (bonus) -- I just don't care. Will I buy an iPhone. No.
However, I know tons of folks who are on their phones constantly, Email, internet, SMS, music -- I realize that just because the iPhone doesn't fit into MY life, doesn't mean it won't fit into 10,000,000 others.
Now... where is that sixth generation 100GB iPod with the 5" touchscreen!? THAT... I could lay down $599 for.
If the built in apps aren't good enough for on all other smart phones , then you can install 3rd party alternatives.
What if you don't like the built in apps on the iPhone? You may not be able to get alternatives due to Apple controlling the 3rd party software environment.
Erm, "they do not surf the web" - obviously you haven't used the right devices! Some smartphones most certainly do - and very well too! Oh, ever heard of mobile Opera ( not the free edition ) - it works very well - especially for S60 and UIQ based phones.
You may not have any need to run Excel or Word on your cell phone, but others do!!!
What if you don't like the built in apps on the iPhone? You may not be able to get alternatives due to Apple controlling the 3rd party software environment.
Erm, "they do not surf the web" - obviously you haven't used the right devices! Some smartphones most certainly do - and very well too! Oh, ever heard of mobile Opera ( not the free edition ) - it works very well - especially for S60 and UIQ based phones.
You may not have any need to run Excel or Word on your cell phone, but others do!!!
wow, my situation is identical as yours.
I love the iPhone but I won't be a hi-user to justify the cost of it. Unless Cingular offers this 1.5 year deal to help on the upfront costs. Then maybe.
I am really looking forward for the widescreen iPod with 5" screen and 120gig. That plus a normal phone will have me set. I can keep my Verizon that gives me good reception and be a happy camper.
I hope the new widescreen iPod will be here before June.
I don't see what the big deal is. There's a lot of great hardware to justify the pricetag, and the service provider is a LOT better than what I have now (T-Mobile). I'm glad the insidious Verizon has no part in this either. I think this is one of the only phones on earth that have lots of functionality remaining even if the phone portion is rendered useless by a lack of network service.
The service plan is not bad either. My sister's Sidekick comes with nice $90 bills every month. My stupid little Ericsson T610 comes with very pleasant $60 bills, and this is when I don't use it the entire month.
The service plan is not bad either. My sister's Sidekick comes with nice $90 bills every month. My stupid little Ericsson T610 comes with very pleasant $60 bills, and this is when I don't use it the entire month.
Not to mention, the 60GB with a color screen (iPod photo) was $599 on launch. Today of course you can get an 80GB with much nicer features for $349.
The BS about iPods launching $299-$399 and descending $50 over the years is just that: BS.
Prices don't go down fast, but both the minimal cost of ownership and the high-end price have decreased substantially over the years ($150 and $250 decrease from peak, respectively). I would expect the same to be true of iPhone, even without considering different form factor devices (similar to nano and shuffle on iPod line).
What kind of hardware is in it? I don't see anything to justify the price tag. Also, how can the service plan not be bad either? Noone even knows what it is, or if it will be unique to the iphone?