Price cut on iPhone angers some users
SAN FRANCISCO: Gadget enthusiasts who snapped up Apples ballyhooed iPhone before Wednesday are coping with a bitter aftertaste now that it is $200 cheaper just 10 weeks after its introduction.
The price cut, to $399 from $599 for the eight-gigabyte iPhone, immediately set off a debate on Internet technology forums between early adopters who said paying a premium price came with the territory and those who said they felt burned. The price reduction was too much too soon, some complained.
In a discussion on The Unofficial Apple Weblog site, the views were split roughly evenly.
Analysts expect that the iPhone price cut, the phasing out of the lower-end iPhone and the new iPods introduced Wednesday to help the company have yet another blockbuster holiday selling season. But the company must also deal with investors who love Apples meaty profit margins and customers who are suffering from a bit of buyers remorse.
Apple stock dropped more than 5 percent after the price cut was announced Wednesday, closing at $136.76, down $7.40. In extended trading Wednesday, the share price fell another $1.01. On Thursday, the stock was down $2.31 at $134.45 in afternoon trading in New York.
Many customers took the iPhone price cut in stride, however.
Ryan Roth, who bought one for $599 on Friday after months of research, chalked up his purchase to “the worst timing ever.”
“I realize this is not their problem. I agreed to the original price - its my fault,” said Roth, 32, of New York, who had been thinking about getting a cellphone for four years but held out until last week.
But some relief is in sight.
Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple, said customers who purchased an iPhone within the past 14 days and had the receipt could get a full refund under Apples return policy if the product was unopened. If they have opened it, they still can get a refund of the price difference.
The steep price reduction less than three months after the iPhones introduction June 29 - and the discontinuation of the four-gigabyte iPhone, which sold for $499 - were surprising from Apple, which usually keeps prices steady while adding new features. It normally discounts products only when they begin to get old.
But analysts said that quick discounts are typical for the cellphone industry. The worlds best-selling cellphone, the Motorola Razr, for instance, debuted at $499 but models can now be bought for less than $100.
“This is about Apple learning how to become a cellphone retailer,” said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecommunications industry analyst based in Atlanta. “All of a sudden its in the cellphone business, and everyone is trying to figure out how to measure it, and we dont know yet.”
Apples chief executive, Steve Jobs, said the company was poised to sell one million iPhones in the United States by the end of September.
