09/06/2007
Steve Jobs Offers Early iPhone Buyers $100 Credit After Uproar
After the uproar following Apple's $200 price drop on the iPhone yesterday, Steve Jobs today penned a letter to Apple customers, saying he has heard their cries:
"Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple's website next week. Stay tuned. We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple."
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 3:56 PM EST by Andy in Apple, News | Permalink
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What, is he nuts? I don't want $100 credit forcing me to buy more Apple products, I would want the cash back.
Posted by: Will | Sep 6, 2007 4:15:01 PM
In case the WSJ link above directs you to a page to buy access past the first three paragraphs, visit the raw letter on Apple's site: www.apple.com/hotnews/openiphoneletter/
Posted by: Jason | Sep 6, 2007 4:41:06 PM
Thanks Jason, have updated the post.
Posted by: andy | Sep 6, 2007 4:45:01 PM
Very classy of Apple. They recognized that they have a PR crisis and they dealt with it.
Posted by: crispy | Sep 6, 2007 4:45:09 PM
Apple does it again. Bravo!
Posted by: G | Sep 6, 2007 4:46:05 PM
Whatever, Will. Considering what's happened to other early adopters (Anybody buy the PS3 when it first came out?), this is an insanely generous move on Apple's part.
Posted by: tservo | Sep 6, 2007 4:48:04 PM
That's total bullshit. Apple needs to refund $200 to those who purchased the iPhone early. PERIOD!
Posted by: soulbrotha | Sep 6, 2007 4:48:06 PM
"classy Apple" "Apple does it again" Huh?
What suckers you are! Saint Steve is now proposing ripping existing iPhone buyers twice!
Posted by: AldousHuxley | Sep 6, 2007 4:51:22 PM
You're right. I'd much rather save that $200 and buy the new Zune phone that's coming out. Seriously. Microsoft rocks.
Posted by: tservo | Sep 6, 2007 5:00:25 PM
Do they have a product that makes the iPhone get push email from outlook?
Posted by: adam | Sep 6, 2007 5:00:58 PM
We iphone owners are not suckers! Whatever you guys say, those $100 extra dollars on an obviously overpriced product were more than well spent to be the trend-setting coolest kids on the block last June! Cool AT&T service and non-replaceable batteries and all!
Posted by: bluedog | Sep 6, 2007 5:03:36 PM
good move by Apple. I LOVE my iPhone - worth every penny - this is just a bonus rebate.
Posted by: breck | Sep 6, 2007 5:03:38 PM
This is definitely another classy move by Apple.
Early adopters encounter this disappointment with pretty much every product they purchase.
Apple did not have to do this, but they recognized that as Apple products become more mainstreamed, more people with a limited knowledge of the industry will be disappointed by something those of us in the know have recognized for a very long time.
I myself am not an early adopter. But I love those people who do - and I would never disparage them like so many (jealous) people do. I appreciate that they're willing to shell out money to help work out the kinks in whatever complex system is involved. Just because people don't understand that - or think that electronic gadgets should all just work like magic and be instantly affordable - doesn't make it so.
So c'mon, my early adopter friends! Buy the new touch-screen iPod. It's what I've LONG been waiting for as a replacement for my sad Palm.
Posted by: Rey | Sep 6, 2007 5:14:17 PM
Apples used to be for teachers until Steve “Corporate Welfare Queen” Jobs started denigrating these underpaid and over worked heroes. The Apple Core believes Steve Jobs is Santa Clause and he’s really Chairman Mao. Ask him which gay hating Republicans he contributed to this week.
Posted by: ggreen | Sep 6, 2007 5:15:02 PM
shouldn't we be asking you, GGreen, since you clearly have all the insider info?
amen, rey.
Posted by: brad | Sep 6, 2007 5:50:27 PM
I LOVE my iPhone, but I was really pissed to hear they'd slashed the price so soon. So I'm happy Apple is offering a $100 store credit. But I would have preferred a $100 refund (or even a $100 gift certificate to iTunes Music Store) because the only thing that $100 credit is going to do is entice me to spend more $$$ with Apple.
Posted by: peterparker | Sep 6, 2007 5:57:24 PM
"Classy"???
As much as I love Apple computers, I'd have to say that a much classier move would've been not to try to sucker your loyal fans in the first place.
Basically with the $100 Apple Store Rebate, Steve Jobs is forcing us to accept the $100 more we paid for iPhones PLUS give the company $100 back. What if I would've used that extra $100 to purchase, say, concert tickets - instead of being forced to spend in on more Apple products?
Don't get me wrong, this is a good gesture, but I find it odd that a company that used to be on such a higher ground than most other computer-makers decides to nickel and dime its customers. (i.e. Early-adopters of the XBox 360s didn't get a coupon, they got cold hard cash back.)
Also, as Gizmodo points out, this doesn't seem to be a "classy" move of goodwill by Apple to show that they care about their customers (i.e. us), but instead Damage Control because the customers complained so loudly.
Feel free to disagree, but if given the choice, I doubt any of you would choose a coupon instead of cash.
Posted by: damien | Sep 6, 2007 6:03:57 PM
Half-way there . . .
Posted by: davitydave | Sep 6, 2007 6:12:57 PM
I don't want a coupon—or cash either. I want a pony!
Posted by: 24play | Sep 6, 2007 6:14:39 PM
What Breck said. I bought the iPhone for my partner two weeks ago. Imagine my pain when I heard about the price drop. Regardless, I'm glad to be a somewhat-late early adopter. I was cynical at first, but the iPhone is a really impressive product.
Jobs did right by offering that credit. Heck, I might get one for myself, now that the price has dropped...
Posted by: Ruel | Sep 6, 2007 6:19:27 PM
Apple didn't sucker you! They told you exactly how much the phone cost, and you were willing to pay that amount. It was apparently worth that much to you at the time.
That's the risk you take for being an early adopter... and there were numerous comments at sites like Gizmodo, Digg, and even here at Towleroad that said the iPhone was too expensive and to wait for a price reduction or the next generation. Your impatience cost you $200.
Gizmodo's massive review of the iPhone was easily summed up the very first paragraph: "Wait to buy the iPhone."
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/top/no-bs-iphone-review-276116.php
Posted by: crispy | Sep 6, 2007 6:25:34 PM
Serves you all right for trying to be the first on the block with everything.
Posted by: Gregoire | Sep 6, 2007 6:40:25 PM
you still might be able to use that $100 at iTunes. the details of all this are yet to come. once again, wait and see. i mean we have all spent $200 on more frivolous things, it's just that some of us don't want to admit it. and for all those who say we got suckered, are stupid, etc. are the one's who still have an 8-track in their car and a turntable at home.
Posted by: sean | Sep 6, 2007 7:12:47 PM
There's a premium that comes along with being an early adopter, so whining about the price cut, and "only" being given $100 from Apple, is pointless.
Posted by: Seann | Sep 6, 2007 7:40:57 PM
Huh?. Even before the iPhone was released there was talk of a cheaper model coming out before Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
Posted by: Tom | Sep 6, 2007 7:54:37 PM
Geez people suck it up already. They were entering a completely unknown market to them and priced it at the point they thought enough people would buy it to make it a success yet make them a good profit. From the two months it was out, plus the price points they decided on the new iPod line, they saw that 4GBs weren't worth it, and the 8gb didn't look like much of a bargain anymore so they lowered it. This is the way of the industry: you have to be able to move quickly if an opportunity presents itself, so that's what they did. Frankly we're lucky to get ANYthing back. If you didn't think the iPhone was worth the original price WHY THE HELL DID YOU BUY IT? That hasn't changed. My god.
Posted by: joe c | Sep 6, 2007 8:16:48 PM
I'm so sick of all the whiners on the various sites today complaining about a price drop! So what if you bought an iPhone at $599. It was a price you were happy to pay at the time for a product you wanted. With technology, prices are always dropping and features are always improving. Yes, it was a quicker than usual drop in price. So what. If Apple's costs of materials and production have dropped due to sales volumes or new suppliers, and they are willing to lower the price on a high demand product this quickly, then that makes Apple a hero in my book. Plus, with the price drop, sales were increase even faster and that will spur on even faster and better innovations in the next version. Which of course will then lead to more complaints at the time when someone is not happy that they bought version one 15 days before version two is released. Shut up! If it weren't for early adopters paying high prices - which cover initial research and development costs - to own the newest products, a 42" Plasma TV would still cost $8,000 and a PC or Mac would still cost $5,000 and run at 25mhz!
Posted by: Rob | Sep 6, 2007 10:02:47 PM
Funny when everyone thinks they have the holy grail and find out everyone around them has the same thing.
Posted by: FidBit | Sep 6, 2007 11:07:35 PM
Christ, you sound like the fucking shills for the pharmaceutical companys. "Trust us. We have to charge dying people $200 a pill to recoup our investment." THEY have more justification than bloodsucker Jobs though fools for his every new toy are only dying of stupidity.
Within the last couple of years, deconstructors of the iPod have repeatedly concluded that the profit margin on them is at least 40% -- and higher as the wholesale cost of flash memory goes down. Apple Trolls meet Chinese laborers. Chinese laborers meet Apple Trolls.
$200 was a HUGE price cut on the iPhone after only three months on the market and it's clearly only being driven by poor sales, and the stock market recognized the smell immediately causing Apple's stock price to fall 5% yesterday.
Enough with the false god worship. He's not even pretty.
Posted by: Aldous Huxley | Sep 6, 2007 11:23:57 PM
Apple akin to Big Pharma?
What a ridiculous and incongruous metaphor.
Apple: a company that makes high-end, admittedly higher-priced, and easy-to-use yet powerful computers and other personal electronic devices.
Pharmaceutical companies: a company that makes medications that save or vastly improve the lives of people.
Wouldn't you rather compare Apple to the Nazis? After all, the devotion by some to a supreme leader and the blind following by others of the organization's marketing of an improved lifestyle might seem to be a more apt metaphor.
Posted by: Rey | Sep 7, 2007 12:27:25 AM
Dudes! I bought an imac last year when it first came out. 3 months later the price dropped from $1999.99 to $1599.99. Was I annoyed? Of course! But this is normal! Tech drops in value as soon as it is released.
Anyone who paid full price has absolutely no right to complain! Those who bought the iphone right away were either too impatient to wait, or wanted a toy to show off, being the firsts to buy it. That's what $200.00 bought them. That is normal.
Even customers whose contracts had expired could likely have waited without contract, maintaining their phone service until the eventual price drop.
Whether one is eager to get a fun toy, or eager to have something to show off, there is no reason for customers to complain. They bought the product knowing the cost. And they got to enjoy it before the rest.
Posted by: George | Sep 7, 2007 12:58:28 AM
This was so obviously going to happen. For all of you who bought your Iphones right after it's release and are complaining now, get over it. Everyone was aware that the prices were going to fall quite quickly after its debut, it was so blatantly obvious. I mean for anyone who has ever bought a tech product it's a no-brainier. So seriously, you guys have no right to complain, it was your fault for following the media hype and going against better judgment. Next time, how about trying something called patience and self restraint.
Posted by: brboy | Sep 7, 2007 4:33:31 AM
when you drop wallet on tech (computer, phone, etc) the item goes dinosaur the moment you "okay" the debit. it's the risk one takes when purchasing an item fresh out of the gates.
with that fact-of-life in mind, it's heartening that the iPhone is doing the credit refund. it is incredibly too-soon after the initial release, they might've at least waited till xmas. however this development might make it difficult for other companies releasing new product in the future as they might also be pressured to also authorize credited refunds.
Posted by: A.J | Sep 7, 2007 7:59:23 AM
bottom line for some people: the iphone is a sublime experience, tech nirvana, despite the lumps of at&t and price. for some people, this is the most important thing.
you rarely get everything you want. for some people, excellence in execution is enough.
Posted by: brad | Sep 7, 2007 10:54:19 AM
Geez....you macboys sure are stupid. Jobs is pissing on you and your eating it up. There isn't a damn thing Apple makes that a normal, healthy person can't live without. I didn't know there were so many submissives posting here, but when their Master calls, they answer.......God your all so funny.
Posted by: Joshua | Sep 7, 2007 4:34:17 PM
Classy?
Suckers. What does $100 buy at an Apple Store? A new pair of ear buds? Seriously, people will just spend it on a new Mac, or IPOD, or IPOD gadget that's likely to cost more than the rebate. Furthermore, even if it doesn't, by keeping you loyal costumers, they'll know you'll spend thousands more at Apple in the future.
I'm not trying to say Steve Jobs did a bad thing; I'm just trying to make the point that there's nothing "classy" about this. It's just a good PR and business move.
Posted by: Ryan | Sep 7, 2007 5:07:47 PM
This happens constantly with technology. There is always going to be a month where you buy something that a month later is cheaper or faster or has more features. You just have to suck it up.
Hell, I'd take $100 store credit...of course, I decided that to wait for V2.0 on this one anyway (plus there's the whole AT&T thing). But I've been bitten on other purchases and I know full well the consequences of buy now...sometimes you just have to buy *now*. I think I'll buy an iPod Touch...
As for sainthood for Mr. Jobs, meh, not so much...but Apple makes some products that have been great for me. YMMV
Posted by: Steve | Sep 8, 2007 10:00:39 AM