In the most unanticipated news of the Apple “Beat Goes On” event, CEO Steve Jobs announced that the high-end 8 GB iPhone will now retail for $399 with a two-year AT&T wireless plan, a price cut of $200 less than three months after the device first shipped.
Jobs said that the company would ship its 1 millionth phone this month and wanted to make the device more accessible, hence the cut. I have to also see the move as strategic related to the new iPod Touch, which delivers every feature of the iPhone except for e-mail, text messaging and phone calls, and will retail for $299 for an 8GB model. Making the iPhone cost $100 more for the same size and costing the same as a 16GB model is a lot more palatable than a $300 premium.
Still, I wonder what this says about the success of the iPhone. We’re talking about a 33 percent price cut. Is Apple disappointed by iPhone sales or merely competing with itself
Via Gadget Lab
Pete Mortensen is a design strategist for consulting firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete’s particular Apple avocations are both around design–interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!
