I can't speak to the validity of these rumours, but there are always rumours swirling around about Apple coming out with a lower end/cheaper iPhoen, especially for specific geographic markets. I doubt they would do this unless they start losing market share to other smart phone providers.
On 16/02/13 08:25, Sieghard Weitzel wrote: > Hi Dave, > > > > I highly doubt that at least in the short to medium term Apple will > suddenly start to sell a new iPhone for $399 or $499. Apple is one of > the few companies who is actually making a good margin on their products > meaning unlike Amazon which basically gives a Kindle Fire away at cost > or even below cost to get people to use their service, Apple sells the > iPad at a price where they make money. Keep in mind that if they sold an > iPhone for a greatly reduced price, people would no longer buy an iPod > Touch and would expect iPad and iPad Mini prices to come down as well. I > somehow don’t forsee any changes in how big carriers do business and > believe they will continue to offer contracts and subsidized phones. > Keep in mind that a carrier like the one mentioned may offer an > unlimited plan for $49 with no contract, but they will not give you a 16 > Gb iPhone 5 for $199, instead you have to pay $649 and buy one at full > price. The math is easy: Over 2 years you spend 24 month times $49 a > month = $1,176 + $649 for the iPhone which means a total of $1,825. > > Now assume you are on contract and spend $80 a month, the total is 24 > times $80 = $1,920 + $199 for the phone = $2,119. > > So, yes, the contract does cost you $294 more over 2 years given you do > actually have a $80 plan, if you find one that is $70 which maybe gives > you 2 Gig of data and limited voice, but maybe it’s all you need then > the total would be $1,879 over 2 years which is only $64 more. For many > people it’s easier to spend an extra $20 or $30 a months without having > to come up with the high upfront cost. It’s really no different than any > sort of financing, people buy all sorts of stuff they probably shouldn’t > because they really don’t have the money so they finance it and pay > every month and in the end if you add it all up you pay hundreds or even > thousands more than had you saved up the money to buy an item outright. > > And what I haven’t even thrown into the calculation is the fact that no > matter if you buy the phone outright or on contract, it’s worth the same > at the end of the 24 months if you sell it. However, if you paid $650 > for the phone, you are maybe more inclined to keep it for another year > or so because you spend all that money for it and you would have to > again spend the same to get a new phone. If you only paid $200 for it, > you can probably sell it for that or very close to that since you can > ask for an official unlock which makes it easy to sell the phone. Then > your new phone is basically paid for by the old one. > > I had bought both my iPhone 4 and 4S unlocked directly from Apple since > here in Canada you can do this and you can get it right away at the > release date in that way. However, now carriers here have to unlock your > phone after 90 days and I think I heard this maybe changing to 30 days. > This takes away one reason to buy an unlocked phone at full price which > is the fact that if you travel and want to put in somebody elses SIM you > have to have an unlocked phone. I think it makes sense and actually > don’t see why carriers lock their phone at all, after all, the fact that > they have to let you unlock it doesn’t mean you can get out of the > contract. If you do that you still have to pay out the contract which > menas essentially that you have to pay them back the amount they > subsidized your phone for. > > > > > > Regards, > > Sieghard > > > > *From:*[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *Dave Baker > *Sent:* Saturday, February 16, 2013 1:34 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: A great new carier for your iPhone: unlimited everything > $49 per month! > > > > Awesome, so they do this without a contract also. And they take > money off your bill when you get friends to sign up? I'm just glad > to see competition in the contract-free unlimited-data mobile space. > I especially think this is important for us using these recognition > and GPS apps. I rarely talk using my phone, but with family members > deployed in the Armed Services, i find it nice if they want to call > and can't use Skype for whatever reason, I don't have to worry about > it. Personally, I think there'll be a time when carriers find it in > their best business interest to ditch the contracts, and handset > manufacturers, including Apple, will find ways to bring costs down > without the subsidies. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" > Google Group. > To search the VIPhone public archive, visit > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > --- > > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" > Google Group. > To search the VIPhone public archive, visit > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- Christopher (CJ) chaltain at Gmail -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. To search the VIPhone public archive, visit http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
