Posted on 09/06/2007 1:38:46 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc, faced with an outcry from iPhone customers who bought the device before a sharp price cut, will offer them a $100 store credit, Chief Executive Steve Jobs said on Thursday.
The offer applies to people who bought iPhones at either Apple or AT&T Inc stores and not receiving rebates or other considerations, Jobs said in a letter posted on Apple's Web site.
While Apple has not disclosed how many units it has sold to date, it has reported selling 270,000 iPhones on the first two days and expects to sell 1 million units by the end of September, potentially costing the company tens of millions of dollars.
Apple shares fell 1.2 percent to $135.06 in late afternoon trading on Nasdaq.
"Even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone, and even though the technology road is bumpy, we need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price," Jobs said.
Apple also has a policy to refund the difference to customers who bought a product within 14 days of a price drop.
On Wednesday, Apple slashed the price of its $600 iPhone model to $400, saying it wanted to make the device -- a combination cell phone, music player and Web browser -- more affordable. AT&T is the exclusive service provider for the device.
Web sites and online forums were quickly inundated with messages from irate iPhone buyers, some of whom felt that they had been punished for their early support.
"Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these," Jobs said.
Jobs' full statement can be read at www.apple.com/hotnews/openiphoneletter/
Still overpriced.
Store credit at iTunes?
Don’t buy one.
Wow....a whole $100? That ought to help some of these folks cut their losses for the two weeks they camped out in line. I’m sure they lost a lot of tip money from their Domino’s deliveries.
Anyone who knows Apple should be smart enough to know about the “fanatic tax:” the early high price charged for new Apple hardware on release date.
This is dumb. Everybody knows the first to buy some electronic gee-gaw is always the highest cost. VCRs used to cost hundreds of dollars but now they are giveaways. Same with DVD recorders, not to mention computers!.....................I wanna rebate on my old XT!..........
How are they being “punished”?......They paid their money in what they thought was a fair exchange of value........
Fast, yes. I don’t know about the stock price and I’m not an Apple head, but you have to give a business credit when it sees it’s made a dumb move and quickly makes up for it. The early adopters who bought the iPhone will now get some dough back.
That goes for any new product. I remember people paying over $25k for a new PT Cruiser. The owner of the company I worked for back in the 90s payed over $100k for the brand new Dodge Viper when it first arrived. The new Camaro and Challenger will be the same. I just avoid any new product during it's first year.
Exactly right. Then again, Apple fanboys aren’t the brightest bulbs in the box... Geeze, I mean how many folks were saying at launch time better to wait to buy until the hype and price both die down!?!?
Oh, I dunno.
There are always techno-geeks who gotta be the first one with the latest electonic gizmo and they gladly pay more than the real value of that item in order to get it.
And they usually brag about how much they paid for it, as they sneer at your 6 month old phone/camera/lap-top/whatever.
I say screw ‘em. People should know by now NEVER to buy the 1st items off the assembly line.
Wait awhile. Wait for the bugs and defects to be corrected.
Wait for the price to drop.
Buy the new iPod Nano for cripes sake!
I predict another cut by Thanksgiving or during the Christmas rush if the sales are slow.
Maybe so, maybe not. I got eight years ... eight years of hard, daily business use out of my last Apple desktop, fully supported by Apple and with no diminished functionality. It still works fine at nearly ten years old, "retired" to my bedroom at home. It's a 1st generation, beige G3, bought within a month of intro. Can you say the same about any Windows pc?
Ping.
For what you get, $400 is an excellent price.
It’s the rate plan that’s killer.
Suckers!
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