iPhone 3G's true cost is $1,237!!!!!

[desiibond]

Everywhere you look, a new iPhone price hike turns up. At $199, the phones themselves may be cheaper — but Apple and AT&T, the phone's exclusive carrier in the U.S., are charging users by other means. The iPhone data plan by itself is going up $10 to $30/mo. In a GigaOm interview, AT&T wireless chief Ralph de la Vega reveals that the 200 text messages previously included will cost iPhone users an extra $5/mo. ($20/mo. for unlimited messages, which seem practically obligatory.) And then there's Apple's MobileMe subscription, without which the iPhone's new synching features won't work, at $99 a year, or just over $8 a month. Add it up, and iPhone users will be paying about $43 a month, or $1,038 over the two-year course of the AT&T contract they signed up for — all to get an iPhone at $199.
No wonder AT&T is taking so many steps to make life difficult for people who try to buy an iPhone without a contract. Some bloggers are fussing about the fact that AT&T will no longer offer a prepaid plan for those with poor credit. What about those solvent enough to deserve an iPhone 3G? After AT&T and Apple get done with them, I wonder what their credit rating will look like.

Source: *valleywag.com/5015160/iphone-3gs-true-cost-is-1237

 

[aryayush]

The fact that they included the price of MobileMe (previously known as .Mac) just shows how desperate they are to prove their point, which is quite obviously based on a very shaky premise.

MobileMe is a rebranded .Mac, a service Apple has offered for the past several years, long before the advent of the iPhone. Just because it has been fashioned to integrate well with the iPhone does not mean you can add it’s price to the iPhone’s and then blame it for being expensive. That’s just plain ridiculous.

Going by that logic, you should add the cost of a Mac and an Apple TV to the iPhone’s price too, and maybe even the cost of media purchased from the iTunes Store and applications bought off the App Store. Maybe you can throw in the price of an AirPort Extreme too because that works rather well with an iPhone, from what I hear.

Do these guys not use that brain thing they’re supposed to have before they pen down ludicrous articles!

MobileMe, by the way, is a cross-platform service that is completely independent of the iPhone, or even Macs, for that matter. And it offers a whole lot more than just wireless synchronisation capabilities. It offers 20GB of online storage, email and website hosting too, among other things.

Stupidity has its limits…

 

[iMav]

Stupidity has its limits…

The difference between Genius & Stupidity is that the latter does not have limits or in other words, Genius has it's limits.

But let's try and make a rough estimate though:

Base price: 9,000/-
VAT: 1,150/-
Airtel Plan: boom
Misc (Distributor's cut): ~1,000/-

My guess is that the phone will be somewhere around 15k to 18k here.

 

[Pat]

Well, including cost of MobileMe does not make for a very sensible calculation! The data plan for iphone is going to cost $30! On top of this users have to buy a voice plan starting at $40 a month! So basically it is $70 per month for 24 months which is 1680 plus 199 i.e. it comes to about $1879 which is expensive!!

 

[desiibond]

The fact that they included the price of MobileMe (previously known as .Mac) just shows how desperate they are to prove their point, which is quite obviously based on a very shaky premise.

MobileMe is a rebranded .Mac, a service Apple has offered for the past several years, long before the advent of the iPhone. Just because it has been fashioned to integrate well with the iPhone does not mean you can add it’s price to the iPhone’s and then blame it for being expensive. That’s just plain ridiculous.

Going by that logic, you should add the cost of a Mac and an Apple TV to the iPhone’s price too, and maybe even the cost of media purchased from the iTunes Store and applications bought off the App Store. Maybe you can throw in the price of an AirPort Extreme too because that works rather well with an iPhone, from what I hear.

Do these guys not use that brain thing they’re supposed to have before they pen down ludicrous articles!

MobileMe, by the way, is a cross-platform service that is completely independent of the iPhone, or even Macs, for that matter. And it offers a whole lot more than just wireless synchronisation capabilities. It offers 20GB of online storage, email and website hosting too, among other things.

Stupidity has its limits…

Reminds me of a classic song, "Potaeto, Potaato". How ever you pronounce, the meaning is same. How ever you want to desperately explain that iphone is VFM, it's useless.

Simple fact: An 8Gb ipod touch costs 250$. There is no way that apple is gonna sell iphone 3G for just $199. They are gonna suck all that extra cash they need month after month till nothing's left to suck. Back to square one. iPhone 3G is gonna cost more than what iphone first gen costed and that will be done in a way transparent to end users.

The difference between Genius & Stupidity is that the latter does not have limits or in other words, Genius has it's limits.

But let's try and make a rough estimate though:

Base price: 9,000/-
VAT: 1,150/-
Airtel Plan: boom
Misc (Distributor's cut): ~1,000/-

My guess is that the phone will be somewhere around 15k to 18k here.

You should take brand image into consideration in India. Add another 3k

 

[Pat]

I have a feeling its going to cost the same as what Airtel/Vodafone announced in the press release (25k +).

 

[desiibond]

^^ There certainly is a chance.

but I think then there will be no extra rental but extra rental for 3G

 

[napster007]

economically iphone is the worst gadget out there!!

 

[iMav]

^^ Not only economically

I have a feeling its going to cost the same as what Airtel/Vodafone announced in the press release (25k +).

Did they? I think that was rediff's speculation and considering their Vodafone speculation turned out to be true, people are assuming that the price predcition will do too. Something I have huge doubts. With a base price of ~9k the selling price cannot be 25k.

 

[prem4u]

economically iphone is the worst gadget out there!!

+1

 

[Pat]

^^ I think what ayush said is correct! there are certainly loopholes in the statements made by steve! It is prolly $199 only for the 22 initial countries and not for India! Coz in India you dont expect people to pay 1500 plus per month rental (Airtel must be knowing this and wont be willing to take a chance)!!

 

[desiibond]

^^That's right. That is why they will put the price at somewhere aboe 16k or 17k and keep the rentals low.

That is why India's name is not in the first 22 list. Coz what Steve is going to do is release it on July 11 only in those countries where iphone base price can be set to $199 or less.

Great tactic to create buzz in the rest 48 countries.

 

[iMav]

^^ I think what ayush said is correct! there are certainly loopholes in the statements made by steve! It is prolly $199 only for the 22 initial countries and not for India! Coz in India you dont expect people to pay 1500 plus per month rental (Airtel must be knowing this and wont be willing to take a chance)!!

There cannot be such huge disparity in prices of one gadget across the world. One place you get it at $199 and some place else you get it an outrageous price, 2 and a half times of that! Just doesn't make sense. Also, we are forgetting the fact that there are going to 2 distributors for iPhone services, something that will definitely impact the prices.

Jobs said that the max price would be $199. In India this will be + Applicable Taxes, like in case of all Apple products.

And it's Aayush.

 

[Pat]

There cannot be such huge disparity in prices of one gadget across the world. One place you get it at $199 and some place else you get it an outrageous price, 2 and a half times of that! Just doesn't make sense. Also, we are forgetting the fact that there are going to 2 distributors for iPhone services, something that will definitely impact the prices.

Jobs said that the max price would be $199. In India this will be + Applicable Taxes, like in case of all Apple products.

And it's Aayush.

Yes, but the prices are subsidized in other countries which cover up for it by charging exhorbitantly in the monthly rentals! Its not possible to do the same in India and hence I think so.However, as far as we dont hear anything officially, your guess is as good as mine!

 

[aryayush]

Well, including cost of MobileMe does not make for a very sensible calculation! The data plan for iphone is going to cost $30! On top of this users have to buy a voice plan starting at $40 a month! So basically it is $70 per month for 24 months which is 1680 plus 199 i.e. it comes to about $1879 which is expensive!!

People will go to any lengths just to prove that Apple is ripping you off. Don’t you have to pay for calls and EDGE and SMS on other phones? When you buy a car, you don’t calculate how much you’re going to drive it every month and the fuel consumption as a result and then add it for the period of seven years to calculate the total price.

Get real, guys. The network got upgraded from EDGE to 3G and, as a result, now costs $10 more. What’s wrong with that? That’s basic Business 101.

Take the price of the Nokia 95 and add the cost of a postpaid connection over the period of two years and see what you come up with.


And, in any case, if it is expensive for you, don’t buy it—who’s forcing you to!

There cannot be such huge disparity in prices of one gadget across the world. One place you get it at $199 and some place else you get it an outrageous price, 2 and a half times of that! Just doesn't make sense.

Actually, it does. And it’s happening even now. That’s because the Indian market is, thankfully enough, different from the one in the U.S.. The N95 costs upwards of Rs. 30,000 out here but you get it for less than half of that price with a subscription in the U.S..

Overall, though, they end up paying more than we do and we have more freedom. I hate the fact that the iPhone is going to change that.

And it's Aayush.

Thank you!

 

[apoorva84]

will stick to windows mobile any day....no macs or iphones or ipods for me...

 

[iMav]

will stick to windows mobile any day....no macs or iphones or ipods for me...

Trust me, smart choice

 

[Pat]

People will go to any lengths just to prove that Apple is ripping you off. Don’t you have to pay for calls and EDGE and SMS on other phones? When you buy a car, you don’t calculate how much you’re going to drive it every month and the fuel consumption as a result and then add it for the period of seven years to calculate the total price.

You (not you, I mean normal average-income Indians) DO keep in mind how much average ,for example, a car gives before buying it. But probably you wont understand it!

Do you understand the reason why tata indicas and all are popular in India ?

And, in any case, if it is expensive for you, don’t buy it—who’s forcing you to!

Thats a really stupid comment coz I never said somebody is forcing me. The thread is just a discussion of how much the iphone is going to cost!!

 

[apoorva84]

have a look at this..just read this at engadget...

*www.engadget.com/2008/06/12/unsubsidized-iphone-3g-priced-at-499-569-in-europe/

 

[aryayush]

You DO keep in mind how much average ,for example, a car gives before buying it.

Yeah, but that’s not the same as multiplying and adding up the total amount you’ll pay over the period of two years. A parallel to judging the mileage the car will give would be to judge whether you want to pay $70 per month to the carrier for voice and data or not. You can‘t, however, add that cost to the price of the handset and declare it expensive, just like you can’t add the cost of the fuel to the price of the car.

That’s what you did in the post I quoted and that’s the premise this thread’s shamelessly sensationalist title is based on.

Get my point?