Submitted by Chad Shmukler on
When Steve Jobs announced, at the September 5th Apple media event, that Apple was cutting $200 off the price of the iPhone, many a cheer was heard across the US. However, almost as resounding were the jeers of early iPhone adopters who had essentially paid $200 for the privilege of owning an iPhone for two months or less.
Though penalizing early adopters financially isn't a foreign concept to Apple, and is in fact a reality that many Mac faithfuls accept, the magnitude of this scenario exceeded anything seen before by Apple customers. As a result, countless emails and complaints were reportedly received by Apple by customers who had purchased the iPhone previous to the price reduction.
In an open letter, published on the Apple website, Steve Jobs has offered an apology to the community. In the letter, he states
I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to 'go for it' this holiday season. iPhone is so far ahead of the competition, and now it will be affordable by even more customers. It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone 'tent'. We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that this holiday season ...Though Jobs goes on to state that technology purchases by nature come with the risk of missing out on price changes, new features, and more, he continues by saying,
... even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone, and even though the technology road is bumpy, we need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price. Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these ...
As a result, Apple is offering all early iPhone adopters who are not already receiving a rebate or incentive of some kind a $100 credit towards purchases from the Apple Store.
Newest iPhone FAQs
Details are still being worked out as to how to issue the credits and Jobs suggests that existing owners "stay tuned" for more details.