Loading ...Still on the fence about the iPhone due to the price tag? Well if the latest rumors are to be believed, this might just be what you've been waiting to hear.
Apple is allegedly considering a savings of $50 to $150 on the iPhone in the form of a rebate or subsidy. This means that the iPhone could potentially hit the $350 price mark. I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there that would be more likely to purchase one at that price rather than the $500 to $600 they've been expecting to pay. The real question is why Apple would consider this price reduction after being very clear that there would be no additional savings when they announced it back in January.
Some analysts would believe this could be a sign of weakness for the computer giant. They may be concerned about the sales of the iPhone and are considering the rebates as a way to increase initial sales. They even go as far as to suggest that Apple may be “scrambling to save the iPhoneâ€
In this situation, I like to look at the glass as being half-full. Perhaps Apple has planned this from the start. They've introduced a phone that appeals to the masses, but at a price that leaves many people lusting after it without the means to justify such a hefty purchase. Then, just before the phone is launched, they decide to offer it at a lower price and suddenly they're praised by everyone for doing so. Or perhaps they've just been studying the reactions of potential buyers and decided to listen to the pleas of those that would buy the iPhone, if only they dropped the price a little.
There is of course no real way to know why Apple has decided to allow rebates or subsidies. In fact, there are currently no facts to support the rumor that they will even allow these incentives. We'll keep this filed under 'rumor' until the facts come in.
[via appleinsider, sfgate]
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
“Or perhaps they’ve just been studying the reactions of potential buyers and decided to listen to the pleas of those that would buy the iPhone, if only they dropped the price a little.”
This is why I have referred (in previous posts) to this site as one big free (to Apple) focus group. I notice that no one has suggested that Apple raise the iPhone’s price.
maybe a rebate or subsidy will increase the sales of those people still on the fence. apple knows that people may not want to buy a 4 to 8 gb iphone when 16 gb flash memory has been announced and 32 gb is probably just around the corner…
my iphone as a focus group? I doubt Apple even know the site exist :)
I bet you they do… If Jobs has gone as far as to use a fake photoshoped iPhone from Think Secret in his presentation of the iPhone, I bet you he has a team of people whose job it is to watch to rumor mill. The guy paranoid and smart. Not to mention, Apple doesn’t mean a thing to Jobs, he made his chunk from Disney when he sold off his animation company, Apple is just a past time for Jobs and that is why he is successful, he isnt worried about money; he is worried about making the best product and the coolest toys.
I don’t know Billy, I mean think back to when Jobs was “shoved” out of the company which he started with his very own hands…so when he returned, there has to have been a great deal of pressure for him to turn Apple around. I do agree with you on the point that he’s worried (more like obsessed) with making the best product and the coolest toys; and that he has accomplished with flying colors.
Apple may not be trolling the web for rumors and speculations…but AT&T sure is.
Good Point. Based up the G5 “hack” and the iPhone with the rotery keypad, I still feel there are a few up there in Central California surfing the web to those forbidden sites.
Imagine, for just a moment, the amount of trouble an apple employee could get in if caught on a rumor site on an Apple internet connection? Jobs is so paranoid about internal leaks.
There is your Steve Jobs OCD thought for the day.
To think that Apple Inc. or a proxy is not monitoring this and similar sites is, well, naive. I suspect that their object would not be “rumors and speculations” but rather, consumer preference. Where else could they eavesdrop on the conversations of so many likely customers?
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