Jobs pulls an Oprah -- $12M in iPhones for all Apple employees
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Jun 28th 2007 3:44PM
posted Jun 28th 2007 3:44PM
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i want a free iphone :(
no shit. and i want $12,091,414.
Not good news for those of us that own stock, giving away 12 mil worth of a device that we're not even sure will be a hit.... awesome.
I own AAPL and I think it's a(nother) great move. Eat your own dogfoog, make employees happy, maximize feedback etc etc etc. Great move.
I don't know it seems like Apple can do no wrong.. next year, they'll bring out 4 more iPhones in all price categories and give Nokia a run for their money.
As for "we don't know whether it will be a hit" - who cares? With the initial hype alone, the development costs are as good as covered. The upside is limitless. Potential outcomes can be good, awesome, or off the charts for Apple. The only question is whether Apple will win less or win more.
12 Million is not actually a real estimate of the figure. Each one of the devices is not worth $500 or $600. After taking that into account, realize that it isnt lost revenue either, because half of the Apple employees are college students who couldnt afford an iPhone anyways.
Retail employees included?????!!?
What about those members of European staff? Do they get an iPhone too?
nope, they get tea and crumpets.
hahahaahahahahahh :P
Anyways. Whatever. iPhone, iDon'tCare, iCanAffordiT but iThink it sucks. iVote for Nokia.
ssuk,
Don't be so sensitive. That was one pretty good (read, funny) reply.
It must rock to work in apple but are these 12million iphones going to be included in the yearly results meaning they've already got 12% of the 100million steve jobs promised he'd sell?
It must rock to work at apple until the day SJ is in a crabby mood and you take the elevator with him, only to find yourself fired by the time you reach floor 'X' ...
Did you not READ the post? Apple has about 12,000 employees, not 12,000,000 of them! Jobs expressed he wants to sell 100 million iPhones, not $100 million in iPhones.
It's not 12 million iPhones, it's $12 million worth of iPhones. And I think their goal this year is 10 million iPhones.
Why do people feel the needing to be downright mean to other posters. Ray made a silly mistake. Correct him but don't presume to know too much about his intelligence. Your insults do nothing to make Engadget posting more intellectual. True intellectuals in my opinion correct and debate without insulting or implying superiority.
Gabe - another example of Dunning-Kruger syndrome. Woe the day you make a mistake!
Gabe, you're a prick
"a bunch of retards with down-syndrome"
Go play in the road.
@Gabe
"I swear, engadget and tuaw are going down the drain, I remember when the commentators here used to be fairly intellectual individuals, now it's like we have a bunch of retards with down-syndrome hooking us up with our flaky fodder, and all we can do is lower ourselves to their mentally handicapped state."
^
|_ By the looks of that run-on, you are clearly not part of that group of "fairly intellectual individuals."
Yikes, I'm glad I don't work there.
i know, can you imagine the horror.. an actual free device that retails for about 600 bucks, one day ahead before the public can even buy it. Poor souls.
.. you are a freaking idiot.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Please Meet 7of7: a troll. Please don't feed the trolls.
I'm sure they don't get them today. It'll probably be a week or two in the mail.
I guess all the jackasses that slammed apple for withholding employees discounts can now tell us all what crow tastes like.
I know there will be those that will find a way to leave a negative comment about this.. but dayum... for once in your life.. can't you just say "well done?"
I dunno about you, but that's the kind of company I want to work for.... where the one at the top is as passionate about the product as he/she is about the bottom line.
Well played, Steve.
So, AT&T just up to an additional 20,186 subscribers for the next two years?
Who wants to bet that the reasoning is two fold:
1. This was a condition of the deal with AT&T so they can gain the subs.
2. Who better to pimp your super phone then your employees who got it for free?
Good move Steve, good move!
Bingo, Tank.
boy! steve is doing things that are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy extraordinary.
god why am I not employed in Apple.
I'm sorry my Snark Detector 5000 is on the fritz are you being sarcastic?
Hmmmm .. if everyone has an iFone.. then you lose that elitist, iSheep aura/halo around having the phone... ie. part of the appeal of owning the iFone is being an Apple Elitist and knowing that most people cant afford it.
Hmmmm .. if everyone has an iFone.. then you lose that elitist, iSheep aura/halo around having the phone... ie. part of the appeal of owning the iFone is being an Apple Elitist and knowing that most people cant afford it.
Wrong. Just wrong. People certainly haven't stopped buying iPods now that they're ubiquitous. Also, 20,000 Apple employees is not - by any stretch of the imagination - "everyone." I promise that there's going to be a whole lot more than 20,000 people owning and using iPhones. And - remarkably - I don't think that'll deter still more buyers.
What's more, the more of a public presence the iphone has (that is, the more real in-the-flesh units people see in public), the more people will begin to suspect that the iPhone may be worth its exorbitant pricetag (the rationale being that plenty of other people have decided it's worth the $500-$600, maybe they're right).
7,787 plus another 2,399 IPhones, soon to be available on Ebay!
Yup, that's how it works. You're not from Omaha, are you?
Why the bloody hell should anyone not working for Apple care?
What about the ATT people who have to deal with all the customers for the next 2 years??? I can see it now, call Apple, they then redirect you to the carrier......When was the last time you contacted HTC, Nokia, Moto when your cellphone wasn't working???
nice. AT&T employees dont even get their 19% service discount for the iPhone.
meh! Isnt that like a $600 bonus? I take that back. It can't be 600 coz they make them.
I knew I shoulda took that job at Apple. Free iPhones rawk! Way to be Mr. Jobs.
Apple also offered a special deal last week on systems, iPods, and accessories to certain 'partners', so they've been pretty generous lately. That discount more than paid for an iPhone!
"Jobs pulls an Oprah -- $12M in iPhones for all Apple employees"
I do NOT want to bash or be pro-mac/pc but the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is donating billions (thanks to Warren Buffett)to "enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and, in the United States, to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology."
like I said, sorry but I think Microsoft beats Apple in charity...
lol. . . Damn, man. I guess my comment was just a little too late. I don't think anyone here started a discussion about who beats whom in charity, so unless you're here to comment in relevance on the article, please don't bother.
Thanks!
Oprah does stuff like give away cars and iPods and other nice free prizes to her studio audience. Everyone in the audience gets one. It's not charity, its large-scale gift giving. This is what the article headline refers to. You apparently don't know this, but that's really ok.
What's not ok is this: BillG =! Microsoft. M$ is not donating that money, Bill Gates is. Sheesh. Giving stuff to your own employee's isn't even charity. Bill Gates stopped running Microsoft like a decade ago and is phasing himself out of Microsoft to concentrate on philanthropy. Steve Jobs has been running Apple for 10 years and is still continuing strong.
Microsoft probably still donates a lot more to charities than Apple, simply due to the size disparity between the two organizations, but this is not a point or comparison that you have bothered to make.
Thus, is it meaningless and pointless to compare the charitable contributions of the richest man in the world who is devoting most of his time to philanthropy, which you have mistaken for the actions of a software company, to a company-wide gift at a different company that you subsequently mistook as a charitable act? Yes, yes it is! The fact that I'm pointing this out to you is depressing.
Your post falls in the category of statements that are entirely devoid of any sense or reason, it reminds me of the simpson's quote from Lenny and Carl:
Lenny: If you ask me, Muhammad Ali in his prime, was much better than anti-lock brakes.
Carl: Yeah, but what about Johnny Mathis versus diet pepsi?
Moe: Oh, I cannot listen to this again!
Yay for all my friends at Apple! I'll soon have several dozen people who's iPhones I can muck around with.
Although Oprah does have her Angel Network. She built a school for girls in South Africa and built hundreds of homes for Katrina survivors.
Speaking of Bill and Melinda... they do GREAT work. Unfortunately, not all is as it seems. Irony abounds. A lot of the money for the Foundation is invesed in companies that make money of the backs of precisely the people the Foundation is trying to help.. shame
I'm just putting this here for the sake of sharing info. This is NOT a dig on Gates. Besides, they seem to be trying to fix things.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/12/gates_ethics_review/
That's lame, dude. Microsoft didnt' start the gates foundation; the Gates did. Plus, Bill is the richest man in the world, so of course he's going to have more charity power. Saying Apple is lame for spending money on employees is the dumbest thing ever. Next time you get a bonus at work, or a raise, tell your boss to give it to charity instead.
You should not even been posting anything about Bill Gates. He got all of his money from ripping off, others ideas. Microsoft Sucks!!!!
haha you aren't first. loser
Wow. You. . . have to admire that.
I really hope no one brings in comparisons of his philanthropy and that of Bill's. 'Cause that would really just be disgusting.
Anyway, go Steve! That is really nice of the guy, and I guess it's a reward to all the Apple employees for keeping their mouths shut, even from their families, for so long about their work.
Hats off to the guy!
What makes you so sure the money came from his pockets and not the company's? Furthermore, MSRP might be $600 but that's after the apple markup.
Not!
It doesn't cost APPLE $12 Mil for 20,000 phones. Remember, Apple pays the mfg. price, not list.
That's why the summary said $12 million retail...
First of all Props to SJ for being generous to his employees.
This is what I find funny though. Not that lots of them might end up for sale, or that AT&T just got a boat load of subscribers, or even the fact that giving that many away may make "joe consumer" hunt to find one with a spiked demand, or even the 2 year contract buy-in.
I think it's hilarious that a year or so from now, how much money they'll make selling those extra batteries after the 300-400 charges.
Do employees (meaning corporate) even know how to change the batteries? I see a DIY project in the works... if people aren't too scared to open up their iphone.
Well, the real story here is what this says about iPhone availability. If Apple/AT&T thought they didn't have enough to meet consumer demand, this would never have happened. I am guessing anyone that wants an iPhone will be able to get one without waiting in line.
-kpluck
I, for one, welcome our iPhone at Engadget tagged post overlords.
this is gonna make the ATT stock go up
but apples is going down
maybe apple wont be able to make the iphone anymore YAY
Oh...that cute! Is that your little list? Sort of like...
Microsoft BOB
Windows for Workgroups
Zune
Microsoft ME
Active Desktop
Microsoft CE
Microsoft Anti-Virus
Comic Chat
XP Media Center Edition
Doublespace
etc. etc.
I can list another ten if you like. :-)
I have been working at the Apple store in San Francisco, on Stockton for about 2 years, does this mean I will be getting an iPhone?... no according to my manager who has herd nothing, I guess this is for everyone is Cupertino : (
Dude. That's a bummer!
I'm sure it'll make it that much harder to deal with all the rich brats -- I wish I was one :) -- who'll mob the store on Friday night.
Chin up! At least you work for a great company!
heard
How long before the night janitor puts his up on craigslist?!
I think you actually do get one if you've been working for the retail store for more than a year.
I hope these phones are not backdated.
But seriously, that is a very cool gesture.
Meh, I used to work for RIM where every employee gets a blackberry and the service is paid for them. Even co-op students get one.
They have to pay the tax though. 40-50 bucks in taxes if its just sales tax!!! Merry Christmas in July Apple employees!!!
Great Job STEVE!
It's not sales tax; this is a company bonus, therefore the amount of money gets tagged as income.
So either Apple will disclose the cost of these phones to employees, or they'll pass on $600 for the employees to pay income tax (and SSI, FICA, etc) on.
So in the end, about $250-$300 for the phone, depending on specifics. A truly awesome discount. But it makes me wonder if the employees will be allowed to opt out, or if they'll be forced to take the phone + tax burden (not to mention service fees).
Remember that company that 'did so well' it gave all it's employees an ipod. Like 2 months down the road it started fighting with the employees for the ipods after it laid a ton of them off?
I hope when people are displaying the iphone sales figures they'll remember to remove $12 million worth.
That said, if there are not strings attached, that was a very nice thing to do.
sux that they have to wait till the end of July to get em. Would be cooler if they had em today. Oh well, i wouldn't be complaining even tho I don't reall want a iPhoney
Wow. The iPhone is so crappy they have to GIVE them away! :D
I wish I could pull out an Oprah. If I could, I would give all of you Engadget buds an iPhone.
my jealousy is palpable
Are they going to include this in the "1 million sold by next quarter"?
Nice. I wonder if the 2 year service is included? Common sense tells me no. I think the deal is probably something like you get the free iPhone but you need to pay for the service. Regardless, a free iPhone is a free iPhone. On a totally unrelated note, my friend at ATT had to be at work at 5 am today for "iPhone training". Hilarious.
nice photoshop job?
I'm sure he just paid this out of his $650 million a year salary. I'll never understand how the shareholders let him get away with that much.
You know, come April 15th these lucky guys will probably have to pay income tax on their $600 bonus. They may ultimately have to cough up about $200 of their own money to cover the tax.
I wonder how many apple employees will be selling their phones on ebay to cover the tax.
damn... bunch of negative nancys, whats wrong with you people. I don't know who's worst of the iFreaks or the iHates.. this is an example of a good gesture by an employer period.
$10 says that Apple still owns the iPhone and its a long term loan that expires when they leave the company. They do the same with the iPods they hand out.
Actually andres this is an example of marketing.
1. In the past, Apple has paid the taxes outright on gifts that they give employees.
2. No, no one had their iPod taken away when they left Apple.
These were and are very successful technologies, I wouldn't have listed them.
Windows for Workgroups (Added workstation features to windows 3.11, lives on in NT/2000)
Microsoft CE (Lives on in Windows Mobile)
XP Media Center Edition (Lives one as an app in Vista)
I hope no one sees this as some noble gesture on the part of Apple. This is nothing more then a marketing expense. The more iPhones out there the more there will be to show off. Granted 12M is a pretty big marketing campaign.
i disagree with A) this is a marketing ploy and B) 12M is a big marketing expense... actually 12M for a marketing campaign for company of that size is loose change.
Comletely correct, John. Glad someone finally said it. This isn't Steve Jobs being a kindly, paternal CEO. It works out well enough for the employees (provided they can cover the additional taxes and/or service fees incurred by switching to and using AT&T), but that's an effect, not the motive. In part, this is product placement. Like you said: the more iPhones out there, the more of a presence they have in the public eye, and the more lust-worthy they become. On a related note, why do you think the iPhone can't (yet) use mp3s as ringtones? I guarantee it's at least in part because Apple wants everyone to be goddamn sure that they're in the presence of an iphone. That is, the ringtones you can choose from on the iPhone are all, I believe, unique to the iPhone; by making the phone not sound like any other phone, Apple ensures that onlookers will know there's an iphone about. Sounds a bit circuitous, but it makes sense. Apple wants the iPhone to make a BIG presence in its first few days/weeks/whatever. So putting it in the hands of employees and (initially) limiting the ringtone possibilities both make sense in terms of making every individual iPhone likely to be noticed by other potential iPhone customers.
And regarding the $12M cost for Apple's benevolence/product-placement, consider this:
-Apple admits that there's a bit of a learning curve (particularly re: typying) for the iPhone.
-Most employees given an iPhone are pretty likely to use it, I suspect (wouldn't you?).
-That means that every employee is suddenly very well versed in using the iPhone, and, in all likelihood, a loyal devotee thereof, too.
-That, in turn, means that every employee is going to have a much easier time selling iPhones to customers, and
-Since Apple pays less than retail for these gift phones, all they need to recoup their losses is to have each iPhone-gifted-employee sell one iPhone at retail price.
According to the same source (Think Secret), Jobs also indicated that the company is developing the next iteration of the iPod...so all of the smarmy, pretentious "The iPhone is the next iPod" idiots that are always trying to make everybody else feel stupid can finally STFU.
no kidding- that's 12 million who have to switch/join the new at&t. yuck
Heh, I have a friend who is a summer intern at Apple, but he's only been there about two months. Ouch ;)
Wow, 1st time poster here and most likely my last. Good information, but too many over opinionated people like most other on-line places. Chill out everyone!
What about the kids in the Chinese sweatshops...do they get a free phone too?
at&t is laughing all the way to the bank!
me? i'll wait till iphone 2.0 - i learned the hard way regarding anything new.
I'm with Tank. I guarantee AT&T was the one that fit the majority of the bill on this. I know a Sprint Store manager (as well as many talks with other service's employees), they would rather give you the phone if it means the difference between you signing a 2 year contract or not. (ie retentions and new subscribers) Due to iPhone demand, I doubt you could haggle your way to a free iPhone...but the fact remains that the phone is minimal income for a phone company compared to the money generated by the contract.
AT&T is grinning because they have the potential of 20G+ new subscribers as well as the increased word of mouth. This is a genius move by AT&T regardless of Jobs hand in it.
Canadian Apple staff will be PUMPED since they can't use their phone on any network up here. What a deal!
Who's going to cover the 2 year service costs?
Easy answer: The MacFanBoys and Early Adopters Alike!!!!
watch those iphones start showing up on ebay now. :)
It is a nice gesture but my guess is that they are scared about the overall lack of interest in it.
What a great way to suddenly get thousands of devices into the field with people telling all their friends how great they are, "Here, want to try it?" Can't get much better marketing than that.
I don't think people realize how good this is for iPhone users. It means that the everyone in the company will be contibuting to upgrades and giving feedback on what should be changed. This is very good news. Not just for people in the company, but for anybody interested in an iPhone.
Plenty of people will buy the phone anyway, they don't need to give them to employees to get feedback. Hell, hasn't there been a crap load of feedback on what is wrong with the iPhone already, and no one has the thing.
Jeff Hawkins pulls an Oprah, and every Palm employee gets a free Foleo:)
And Oprah pulls a Steve Jobs, and starts wearing jeans and black tutleneck...
95% will end up on ebay...hahahah jobsie :)
My employer gave all of us $200 iPods. Cheap bastards! We want iPhones!!!
lol