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AT&T to sell $699 iPhone
AT&T announced recently that they would be offering another version of the iPhone, one that comes without a contract. That sounds great, on the surface – but just a bit deeper you discover that the no-contract phone has some very severe side effects. Namely, it hurts your wallet – a lot – as the phone runs $400 more than the same model phone with a contract. The $299 version of the iPhone without contract will become $699, a small fortune.
On top of having a massive price tag, the friendly folks at AT&T have also decided that these $599 or $699 phones should be locked to their network – preventing you from using it on other providers’ networks, which essentially means you're locked into a contract anyway. What exactly is AT&T thinking? $699 for a locked phone that costs Apple only $173 to manufacture? True, AT&T is going to be paying Apple significantly more than that. Even if it was twice the price, though, AT&T is kidding themselves if they think people are going to jump at such atrocious pricing coupled with cumbersome ways to restrict what customers do.
On top of having a massive price tag, the friendly folks at AT&T have also decided that these $599 or $699 phones should be locked to their network – preventing you from using it on other providers’ networks, which essentially means you're locked into a contract anyway. What exactly is AT&T thinking? $699 for a locked phone that costs Apple only $173 to manufacture? True, AT&T is going to be paying Apple significantly more than that. Even if it was twice the price, though, AT&T is kidding themselves if they think people are going to jump at such atrocious pricing coupled with cumbersome ways to restrict what customers do.
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User Comments (4)
Post a comment| gamerguy53 on July 1, 2008 3:23 PM | wow...just wow...
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| nirkon on July 1, 2008 4:07 PM | They're so freaking annoying, why screw your costumers like that? stinking greed, no shame
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| echtogammut on July 1, 2008 4:09 PM | I doubt that the high price tag is because AT&T is out of touch with what people are willing to spend. Rather, it is a preventative measure to stave off lawsuits over forced contracts. This way they can say that consumers are free to buy the phone without a two year contract. Eventually, we the consumers are going to have to put our foot down regarding carrier proprietary phones, proprietary transmission and forced multi-year contracts. I should be able to buy my phone and choose my carrier as two separate and distinct transactions. We used to rent our phones from the carriers until the government stepped in and broke up that racket. We shouldn't wait for the government to ride to our rescue again.
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| OUTLAWXXX on July 3, 2008 1:38 PM | This makes me just wanna kill myself cause I'm so over this overpopulated w/ greed planet we call earth... I'll just get myself an upgraded Blackberry and go buy myself the elite version of XBOX 360 since that's amazingly cheaper than a phone...
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