iPhone Price Drop: What’s Your Opinion?

As an early iPhone adopter, I willingly paid a premium price for the bragging rights to a groundbreaking new gadget.

But who knew it would be a mere 2 months from the iPhone release date before Apple would drop the iPhone price by $200 and unveil a new iPhone-like iPod touch media player?

Analyst Andrew Rassweiler has been speculating since January that the iPhone price would drop soon after the mobile device’s June release.

Nevertheless, Apple’s decision to cut the iPhone price just before the holidays has caused some controversy among iPhone owners who think Apple made the move too soon.

In an open letter, Steve Jobs apologetically offered disappointed iPhone customers a $100 Apple Store credit toward any purchase in the Apple Store.

Despite the gesture, some iPhone owners feel ripped off. John Harrelson, one of my readers and an Apple customer for 20 years, commented that he will never set foot in an Apple Store again.

Seth Godin thinks Apple should have offered customers exclusivity instead by offering early iPhone adopters something like:

  • Free exclusive ringtones, commissioned from Bob Dylan and U2, only available to the people who already had a phone. (This is my favorite because it announces to your friends–every time the phone rings–that you got in early).
  • Free pass to get to the head of the line next time a new hot product comes out.
  • Ability to buy a specially colored iPod, or an iPod with limited edition music that no one else can buy.

I, personally, am okay with the iPhone price drop. I paid the premium on day 1, figuring that Apple would reduce the price sooner rather than later. I would have been frustrated, though, if I’d bought the iPhone more recently and missed out on a $200 savings looming on the horizon.

What about you? Do you think Apple dropped the iPhone price too soon after the iPhone’s debut?

If you bought your iPhone at the $499-$599 price, would you have waited until September for the choice between a $399 8GB iPhone and a very similar iPod touch free of iPhone’s AT&T contract? Please share your opinion in the comments below.

14 thoughts on “iPhone Price Drop: What’s Your Opinion?”

  1. I purchased an iPhone 3g myself, I believe that the premium price of 1000 was way too much, even then. Also, that the current prices, phone and monthly charges, are more reasonable. About the iPod, you would still need a phone, so why carry two things? It would also be difficult to get wifi. I say “go big or go home,” get an iphone.

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  2. If you bought the iPhone off the bat and spent the higher price stop crying! Get over it and get a life. You paid the extra money to have the phone first. If you were willing to spend $500-$600 on a phone you never got to check out or wait till a good amount of reviews were out to get the gadget then thats life and what you got to pay to think oyu are cool to have the phone before anyone you know.
    It is Apple’s right to change the pricing whenever they see fit. If did not have the brains to think there would be a price adjustment before the holiday season then you don’t have much sense. And for you “Loyal Apple customers” you can still be loyal and wait to buy it when the price drops. I think Apple shouldnt have given any credit to early buyers at all but that is Steve Jobs’ decision.

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  3. If you spent the intital price of $599, is because you did not care or mind spending the money because the phone looked good, cool, is from Apple, etc. Why are there people crying for money back in the first place? i spent $599 on release date and i feel very satisfied with such cool and easy to use product.
    Apple is offering $100 in-store credit for earlier buyers, thats cool with me, and i am agree with LES, Only a few companies offer deals to early buyers/adopters, why would apple had to do that? well is simple Apple cares about their customers and now they are offering a relieve for its crying customers, so if they do not like it..just do not take the offer, again… it was their will in buying the phone on release date.

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  4. I waited in line on day 1 willingly in order to be one of the first to have the cool gadget. Of course, my entire family are “mac-ies” (I use a Dual G5 tower, 17′ Macbook Pro, my wife has the black one, my 6 year old has the ibook, and my 4 year old uses our olg G4 tower). So to have a phone that works directly without the 3rd party apps made the $599 worth spending. The blackberry was $449, and the sync program was $59, which made it come to just under the cost of the iphone…..without the gravity features, ipod, browser etc. The iphone has almost eliminated my need to travel with my laptop. Of course, I WANT the rebate because they are definately going to release a larger internal hard drive. It’s classic Apple sales pattern. Remember the 20G FAT ipod?

    LOYAL STILL…HAPPY STILL…

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  5. Went to Apple Store this morning; they knew about rebate but didn’t know how it would happen… in some of the articles I’ve read, sounds like info will come next week from Apple. Any further info from anybody? Do they know who has an iphone and will send them credit or do you have to go into the store to get it? With receipt, box, iphone, etc. in hand?

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  6. I didn’t buy one right away. I thought I had time left on my contract and it was a bit more pricey than I was willing to pay. A couple weeks ago, they had refurbs in the online Apple Store for $100 less, so after finding my contract had expired I jumped on it. I was bummed when they dropped the price that much but I wasn’t mad at Apple. Les (above) was right on. I heard about the rebates and called in. I didn’t get one becasue the guy I talked to said I had purchased recently enough to give it to me for the current sale price of $349. So, he credited my card $160 (the $150 price drop on a refurb plus tax). I wasn’t really unhappy with Apple but now, I’m REALLY happy with them. I LOVE this phone! I thought it was worth the $499.

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  7. Les, I agree. Most other tech companies wouldn’t have offered anything to early adopters.

    Then again, most other tech companies lack the loyal customer base that Apple enjoys.

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  8. I was not an early adopter of the iPhone expecting that there would either be a drop in price, probably before the holidays to increase sales or that a new version would have more features, more memory, etc. This is no different than any other high tech item on the market. You can hardly buy a camera, computer, software, phone or anything of this type today that by the time you get it delivered that there isn’t a better model out or that the price is lower. Why should Apple be any different? In fact it shouldn’t. It is the price/performance marketing game every company is playing. Apple did not even have to offer anything to it’s customers. No other company does. I commend them for offering the rebate to those that they did. I will in the near future plan to buy an iPhone because it is the newest, most technologically advance and COOL phone.

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  9. Well I went ahead and purchased an IPhone only 4 weeks ago. I definately would of waited 4 weeks to save $200. I personally think that such a dramatic price drop in such a short amount of time, deserves rebates. All the devoted IPhone users were a great marketing tool for the IPhone and should be compensated.

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