Update: AT&T has now announced the iPhone rate plans.
Be the first to see this not-yet-released Cingular iPhone ad, revealed by a reliable source in a private iPhone consumer survey from Pinecone Research.
It appears the iPhone rate plans from Cingular 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.
EDIT: In addition, the Cingular iPhone ad lists iPhone prices as $299 for the 4GB model and $399 for the 8GB model.
Sounds good to me. Click the ad to see a larger version of the image:
[The image has been removed at Pinecone Research's request. Engadget Mobile still has it up in their post on the Cingular iPhone rate plans.]
You saw it here first. 
More on the Cingular iPhone ad:
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[...] survey (reported by AppleiPhoneReview.com and Engadget) purportedly showed [information removed at the request of PineCone [...]
the ad is fake. the prices officially released were in the Cingular MSD from back in September. “No carrier subsidies” is also in the MSD. i guess i can say that now that apple has officially activated an iphone via the cingular activation process.
[...] early as Febuary, Cingular’s marketing team have been testing price points. AppleiPhoneReview.Com reports the price points to start @ $299.00 for the 4gb model and $399.00 for the 8gb model. [...]
Interesting stuff but someone now knows if it is for real?
[...] for the iPhone as well as the potential costs for the iPhone rate plan. I got the info from Appleiphonereview.com and Engadget and have a summary [...]
The rate scale is very simple, folks.
The iPhone will cost: $1 less than the most you would ever imagine paying.
AT&T is going to charge: Twice what seems humanly reasonable.
Extra features from AT&T will cost: Four times what seems humanly reasonable.
It is all carefully calculated.
Sorry, hit return too fast…That is SEPARATE from their text messaging plan that starts at $4.99 a month for 200 messages, etc.
I can’t see AT&T offering the data plan for only $19.99.
“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.”
Not likely. Cingular/AT&T currently charges $39.99 per month for unlimited data on their PDA plans. That is SEPARATE
[...] some leaked info here. [...]
The survey discussed the product, BS smeller. See this post:
Cingular Ad: More Proof for You Non-Believers
This can’t be a true thing bc if they are trying to test consumer’s reaction towards the price’s product. It SHOULD talk about the product. Does it say anything about the iPhone’s feature which are its strongest points as an innovative product… You are paying $299 for the PHONE, whatever is described in this fake ad is about the subscription to Cingular…
$299 for an iPhone is enticing, but a $25/month rate plan is without a doubt the better buy.
This actually looks like a conjoint market (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.....marketing) for to find out what this is) research analysis being run by cingular to decide at what prices people respond to for their tariffs.
Its quite simple, ask questions that compare iphone at $299 with $40/month vs $499 with, say, $25/per month for same mins & texts.
The question is, will cingular get a higher volume of customers with a lower upfront price? The short term cashflow hit of subsidising customers heavily could be outweighed by greater volume and long term margins. Whatever makes the more money over the 2 year contract will be the price.
It’d be interesting to know what you think about which option you’d prefer them to do, I bet cingular would be!
I would suggest the poor graphics are down to the fact that pinecone are just a market research agency. the’ve got some guy in their web design team who they’ve told to put the web questionaire together, hence the graphics are just gonna be cut from elsewhere on the web.
What price would you go for?
Anyway, back to drooling over the iphone…
[...] rate plan leak says more about research than prices The recent excitement concerning the alleged leaked iPhone pricing from a market research study has got a lot of people thinking they will be saving themselves a [...]
This is the work of a very sad man with too little work (if his boss is reading this, give this man a spreadsheet to complete or something). First of all, no creative would design something that looks this poor. This looks like the work of some cracker jack direct marketing assholes. Definitely not someting that Cingular (or Apple) would allow or want produced. Since Apple has so much control over how the iPhone is sold, used, and portrayed, they would have to have some say over the advertising. Apple’s ads are by and large some of the best and most simplistic (just like their product and brand) of any brand. I can’t believe we’re debating the validity of some jerk-off fan boy’s idea of a fun Tuesday afternoon at the office.
[...] iPhone Review dicen que tienen un anuncio de Cingular, revelado en un sondeo privado realizado por una firma [...]
Fake. Go back to warcraft.
Sen. Gronk,
See the links I posted in this post and in the “More Proof…” post.
Chris
Hey angry people, I haven’t seen the image but your logic for this being fake is way off base. The worst ads you’ll ever see are the ones thrown together for focus groups. They’re comps based on broad imagery before photo shoots are booked with the actual product. Besides, using an actual iPhone would expose Apple’s top secret device. I would tell you that if the ads looked real that that would be the telling of forgery. Sadly, I’m unable to see the comps so I can’t be too self-righteous, but I can tell you that most likely you will be embarrassed when you find out that you were wrong. Remember that truth is stranger than fiction.
I do love how the web somehow licenses knee-jerk reactions as fact.
[...] Rate Plans Reveiled? http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/0…fter-contract/ It appears the iPhone rate plans from Cingular 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. EDIT: In addition, the Cingular iPhone ad lists iPhone prices as $299 for the 4GB model and $399 for the 8GB model. http://www.appleiphonereview.com/iph…plans-revealed [...]
Godrifle: $299 with 4GB, $399 with 8Gb. I’ll edit this post now to include this information. Thanks
[...] AppleiPhoneReview.com has posted (and now removed) an image obtained from reliable sources (which appears to be some kind of mockup). [...]
Can you post a textual representation of what the ad contained? Now that it’s been removed, this series of posts contains almost no usable information. Like, say, what was the iPhone price?
[...] though: $299 for 4GB, $399 for 8GB. Remains to be seen at that time it this turns out to be true. Appleiphonereview.com even speculates that plan pricing will be $39.99 a month for 450 minutes, unlimited mobile to [...]
[...] es que según AppleiPhoneReview ya hay un anuncio, aún no publicado pero ya elaborado que muestra las ofertas, bastante por debajo [...]
I BELIEVE!!!!!!! (saving my pennies……..)
Seth, I completely agree it does look very shoddy. As I mentioned before, perhaps Cingular is trying to analyze consumer opinion on the rates/data plans rather than the ad design itself? I don’t know.
It is. I mentioned that in the post
lol that shot look to be from the survey site pinecone research, i knew i had seen that web address before…
I gotta call a fake on this as well. There are too many inconsistencies from a design standpoint for this to be an actual Cingular/Apple ad. Like noted before, the woman NOT talking on an iPhone. The fact that Apple has promo shots of the iPhone with it being held on a white background, the random black squares make no sense. Inconsistencies with fonts compared to normal Cingular promo pages as well as fonts on this “ad” itself. Plus I don’t think Apple would agree to having to make customers pay so that they could use Visual Voicemail, when that’s a main feature of the phone; otherwise how would you check your voicemail?
Iphone will launch with text messaging and media max. THINK PDAS PEOPLE. WHY WOULD CINGULAR LAUNCH THE MOST EXPENSIVE PHONE IN ITS HISTORY AND PUT IT OUT WITH THE CHEAPEST RATE PLAN WE OFFER????? APPLE EXCLUSIVE RATEPLANS PEOPLE!!!
I’m calling shenanigans. Check out the cropping of the price-point information . . .
Fake_
I can’t believe this was even posted. It’s so amateur. Truly a fake!
Ah, but if only those prices were really true.
I completely understand your skepticism. My guess is that it may be a quick draw-up for Cingular to analyze consumer opinion of the ad content (the rates and data plans, etc.).
As much as I’d like this to be true, I’m a little skeptical. Why isn’t the woman on top of the ad using an iPhone?
The girl in the photo…. isn’t on an iPhone.
All the images are stock images, on Cingular/Apple’s websites. Does look sorta like a Frankenstein add. Would be great if it was true! Why weren’t these prices released when the iPhone debuted?
Perhaps it’s the ad in its early stages.
I admire your confidence in knowing for a fact that it’s a fake. What makes you so sure?
I mean I understand your skepticism, believe me, but leaks DO happen. Why don’t you take it with a grain of salt and see how this unfolds later on?
Err, that’s some mighty poor design, and a poor fake…
Dave, you posted your comment before I edited this post.
I decided to reveal the source. The ad was found in a private iPhone consumer survey.
You heard it here first – this is a poorly made fake.