Jobs Aims to Make iPhone the Platform for Mobile TV > How many iPhone Edge users will bite bullet & upgrade to 3G?

How many iPhone Edge users will bite bullet & upgrade to 3G?

I might, but with an Aircard I really don't need it. Edge is plenty fast for my mobile needs. If the new 3G iPhone offered teathering and a Slingbox client, I would bite in a second and simply cancel my AT&T Aircard plan.

Meanwhile technology companies upgrade their products constantly.

I don't see Dell offering generous trade in allowances on their computers when the next generation of computers is release. The new Penryn systems are out...where are my rebates? Don't see other cell phone companies doing it either. You buy what is out at the time.

But for some reason Apple is the only technology company expected to offer upgrade rebates.

Only a fool thinks that ANY technology is free of obsolescence. The current gen iPhone will serve people for many years to come. There will be no forcing of anyone to trade them in on a new model.

reply to fAcEtIOUs
Good point. You certainly don't see other companies' mobile phones being replaced by newer models every year. Apple stands alone in this respect in the technology industry. A sucker born every minute, right?

sheesh

Nope, we just keep clicking refresh at Apple.com/store Meanwhile more suckers are buying iPhones than all the Windows Mobile phones combined.

reply to fAcEtIOUs

Re: How many iPhone Edge users will bite bullet & upgrade to 3G?

Gotta love the Apple's are overpriced myth. Apple notebooks are competitively priced when comparing feature for feature. Apple's all-in-one is cheaper than either Dell or Gateway's all-in-one. No one makes a machine as small and fast as the Mini for cheaper. The Mac Pro, at least when I bought, was cheaper than the similarly configured Dell. Fact is, when comparing apples and apples, the Macs are very competitively priced. When ignoring software, feature set, and form factor, all of which cost money from ANY manufacturer, you can build a POS for a few bucks cheaper.

Apple isn't in the $200 junk PC market where there is no margin and never has been.

This myth has already been debunked here a zillion times which PC zealots always having to resort to comparing apples and oranges in order to get the price down. Next up from the ignorant, rants about the one button mouse and contextual menus.

reply to Dogfather

All the major cellular companies lock people into contracts and the AT&T data plan is competitively priced.

My Verizon Treo 700W was $599 with a 2 year contract and service is $10 more than I pay with the iPhone. And when the price dropped significantly I didn't see Verizon offering up a store credit like Apple did. I also don't see Treo ponying up any discount for a new phone. Verizon on my biz plan expects me to pay retail for any upgrade and I'll only be eligible for a subsidized phone when my contract is up for renewal. When I spoke with them, they wouldn't even give me a discount if I extended my contract.

What cellular phone manufacturer offers rebates for upgrades?

All technology evolves and all these companies come out with new products. Anyone who wanted a 3G iPhone, should have waited for it just like anyone who wanted a Penryn should have waited for it.

Meanwhile since the full functionality of the existing iPhone will be intact for many years, no compensation is warranted. People are getting exactly what they paid for and Apple and AT&T are living up to their agreements.

If they want a discount, they can take it in the form of selling their old phone on eBay.

Historically, Treo users always got a discount on an upgrade to the latest version from Palm/Handspring. You just had to order from their site and enter your serial number.

When Palm basically "died" and started offering Windows Mobile devices, that policy disappeared.

Carriers wanted to force complete control of devices into their own hands. That's when upgrade discounts disappeared.

}Davoice

So I ask again, what cellular phone manufacturers are offering discounts to upgrade? Why is Apple the only company expected to do this?

Reasonable prices are prices that the market tolerates. Given that iPhone is soundly outselling all the Windows devices combined, it seems that the current contract terms and pricing is plenty reasonable.

Just because someone doesn't want to pony up $400 for a smartphone with a 2 year contract, doesn't make the price or terms unreasonable. Their choice is to buy this one device or not buy this one device and buy any of the other zillion that are on the market. Every other choice rightly belongs to Apple and AT&T.

And whether there will be discounts for upgraders remains to be seen. Apple did after all take the unprecedented step of offering store credits when they dropped the price. I saw no such credits from Treo or Verizon when the price of the 700W dropped shortly after I bought. My guess is that Apple will sell both phones, just dropping the 2G phones price further and introduciong the 3G model at the 2G's old price.

If there is tethering, I'll buy the new 3G phone and sell my old one on eBay and that will be my "ugpraders" discount.

reply to Dogfather
And just because they line up to buy it does not make them any less of a sucker.
--
Toolmaster of La Grange.