It amazes me the amount of complainers there are out there regarding AT&T and Apple's subsidy pricing. When individuals purchased an iPhone 3G last year, they agreed to a two year commitment in exchange for a subsidy to cover the full cost of the iPhone. Now mid way through their commitment they want AT&T and Apple to give them the full subsidy again. Yes that would be nice, but large corporation are seldom nice and when you signed that contract you knew what you were getting into. All this whining sounds like spoiled milk. I am not alone here Gizmodo, Technologizer, and TechCrunch seem to have the same if not stronger opinions of the whiners.
I think people should complain about AT&T network quality, I find that to be a bigger issue than pricing and I think it is really starting to make Apple look bad.
Here is the official pricing chart from AT&T:
|
|
iPhone 3G S |
iPhone 3G | |
|
New and Qualifying Customers** |
$199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB) |
$99 (8GB) and $149 (16GB*) | |
|
Early Upgrade Price |
$399 (16GB) and $499 (32GB) |
$299 (8GB) and $349 (16GB*) | |
|
No-Commitment |
$599 (16GB) and $699 (32GB) |
$499 (8GB) and $549 (16GB*) | |
* While supplies last
**Qualifying customers are those that qualify for an upgrade. Upgrade eligibility varies with each customer but in general you will become eligible the longer the tenure in your service agreement. Visit www.att.com/iPhone to determine if you qualify for an upgrade.
Note: Voice and data plans are required for all devices.
From what I understand, in most cases you must wait 18 months before getting the full subsidy pricing, but the confusions comes with some accounts which can get the full subsidy in 12 months; nobody, even AT&T reps, seem to have a handle on the rules regarding this.
I went ahead and pre-ordered at the early upgrade price, I am not that happy but I knew what I was getting into when I signed the contract for the iPhone 3G. We will all probably be sitting at the same place next year, but hopefully by then the coverage in my house will be better (cell site currently being installed in my neighborhood) and I will have switched my wife to AT&T giving me an avenue to use a full upgrade subsidy since she won't need a handset subsidy...
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