Mama always told me if it’s too good to be true, you better take a second look; and that I did, before wetting all over myself. These screen shots suggests that a third party is testing (Pinecone Research) the water in order to get responses from a controlled group of potential iPhone owners. Test subjects are shown what seems to be an iPhone ad from Cingular, followed by a series of questions.
The ad shows that the 4GB iPhone goes for $299 while the 8GB is priced at $399 – with a two-year Cingular contract. First of all, Cingular is now AT&T, so this is wrong or outdated. Second, Steve himself made it abundantly clear that the $499 and $599 price is with a 2-year contract.
Then there’s the listing of the iPhone rate plans, suggesting that it may be the same as Cingular’s current plan options: $39.99 a month for 450 minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile calling, and 5,000 night and weekend minutes. The data plans will start at $4.99 a month for 200 messages OR a $19.99 a month data plan for 200 messages plus unlimited Internet and Visual Voicemail.
What do you think – is this believable?
Cingular Ad: More Proof for You Non-Believers [AppleiPhoneReview]
I doubt that Jobs was just testing the waters with his price tag, even though he could – he still got people excited. But announcing a price up to 40% higher than the intended (and probably necessary) sale price sounds like nonsense, and could seriously damage Jobs’ credibility. Since we’re also used to Apple products being more expensive than other brands, I’d say this is just an “accidental” leak to get us talking again – maybe Apple are afraid of the new Neode mobiles?
Talking with a Cingular representative last week, she said that all Cingular smartphones are required to have full data plans that START at and ADDITIONAL $40 per month. So I highly doubt that Cingular would advertise the iPhone data plans for simply $4.99 per month.
I know it is highly unlikely – and at best is just wishful thinking – but wouldn’t it be interesting if the $4.99 a month was the data plan price for the iPhone, and its lower price was what had caused the earlier confusion about the iPhone coming with 18 months free service? Just thinking out loud. ;-)