Steve Jobs gives all iPhone owners $100 back
By Ryan Block 
posted September 6th 2007 3:19PM
posted September 6th 2007 3:19PM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted September 6th 2007 3:19PM
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apple gift cards? How is that giving money back to its customers? Yes they get to buy more apple stuff. Their stuff is way overpriced anyway. Consumer studies show that people who use gift cards on average spend 1.8 times the value of the gift card when redeeming the gift card. That is why big box stores push gift cards so much during holiday season. Not only do they get money out of you now, they get to get more money out of the person you bought the gift card for.
In effect this a way for apple to leech more money out of its customers.
Yet more proof that Apple fanboys are amongst the most naive of all the species of fanboy.
Steve didn't give you any money, guys, he just gave himself back $100 through the Apple Store.
Apparently this wasn't obvious to those praising his divine intellect.
And yeah, he's entitled to make a profit, early adopters knew what they were getting into, yada yada yada - but if this was Microsoft, you'd be calling in the lynch mob about now.
Many of the early adopters are already Apple Fanboys, and will buy more Apple products as is. This money could probably be used to get a bunch of ringtones. :)
How does it help other iPod/Phone users if Apple brings more under the iPhone tent? And a store-credit? LOL, so of the $100 back, you lose $10 in taxes, buy some overpriced accessories to get some remote semblance of usefulness out of your overpriced apple product. Markup on accessories is even higher than on the iPod/Phone, so Apple is giving you $30 at best.
You've been had. Twice.
I have no sympathy for early adopters of any hardware. C'mon, did you think your iphone was going to be an investment that would raise it's value over time? Xbox360s go red ring of death, PS3s has no decent software till next year, Wiis straps broke then taught your mom to krump when you were sleeping, Vista had no reliable drivers for months... thats just recently, but historically as shiny awesome owning any launch items are, by now you would think we would come to expect that a) 1st gen junk quite often has bugs to work out, and b) the price will be lower within a few months.
a + b = wait a bit to buy more stable cheaper junk.
This is not about money, it is about the value of a product measured in loyalty, trust and sentiment that consumers buy into. Apple products have very high profile and value to their customers, and while technology moves fast, Apple products are not considered commodities. Think about fancy handbags, cars or jewelry, etc - some brands are much more expensive than others for a reason. The customers perceives value in them. (I don't care for those, Apple goods flip my bit.)
It's good he addressed this issue directly today. It acknowledges that loyal Apple customers are valued by the company as much as we value them. Yes, it could have been handled better yesterday.
Oddly enough the Apple store rejected just extending my warranty earlier in the day, which was only $70.
iPwned - all Stevie J did is ensure that (a) you don't get back the $200 that everyone else will now save -after all the phone isn't worth more than $399 is it? (b) HE keeps ALL your money, anyway you look at it, rather than you go and spend that $100 at some other store like amazon. I only feel for the iPhone buyers who DON'T use iTunes etc - they got the real end of that stick!
I wonder if that applies to the refurbished one I got 2 weeks ago.
All part of the plan...heh heh heh....(cheeky grin)
What's an iPhone?
I'm a ok with this. Thank you Steve!!!!
you guys kill me, does anyone remember when the RAZR came out?? Cingular was selling those for $500 a pop and no one complained, and every month the price continued to drop until they were free. If you ask me, that was the biggest waste of money, a half-ass functioning cell phone with a shit for brains interface.
Amen, brother. Jesus...people were crazy to get hold of that thing. And it turned out to be a giant steaming turd.
Unlike the iPhone, which actually works correctly.
All hail APPLE steve will be praised as a GOD... HES JUST SO KIND TO GIVE US SOME $$ TO SPEND ON EVEN MORE OVERPRICED PRODUCTS.
Neeko,
You whiny bitch... You have violated the 'Terms of Bitchiness' -- that is, more than one mindless post about how superior you are to the rest of the unwashed masses... In doing so, you have clearly shown yourself to be inferior to the unwashed masses and will heretofor be called 'Neeko-the-untouchable-whiny-bitch'... I'm going to let you of with a warning this time,but rest assured, I'll be keeping my eye one you... And one more thing, pull up your goddamned pants...
Thanks Steve,
I appreciate the 100 back. I think all the HATERS are not even iphone owners. Anyone who doesn't want their gift card cause they think it's just marketing or smoke/mirrors then send it to me so more apple goodness can be ALL MINES!
Steve being generous? After watching Triumph of the Nerds, my view changed of him. Maybe the iPhone has brought a little goodness in all of us? NOT!
The "No other company would have done this" comments are getting tired. Where is the proof that no other company would do this? Oh, that's right, no other company has instituted a 33% price drop on this type of item 68 days after launch. Since that is the case, how has there ever been an analogous situation which can be compared to this? These comments are complete speculation, since most companies have enough customer loyalty to not stick it to early adopters this hard. Instead of people scratching their heads as to how the components of the iPhone became $200 cheaper within 2 months, people are fumbling to unzip Jobs' pants. Truly new heights for the reality distortion field.
I want my 35 cents back now that Taco Bell put the Bean Burrito on the Dollar Menu! That adds up over time!!!
Of course it was planned. Duh. For starters, it keeps Apple in the news another day or too. Jobs knows how to play an audience. Doesn't detract from the fact that the iPhone (and iPod Touch) are at least a year ahead of the competition and are version 1 devices. Apple is playing for the long term win here and this gesture is but a drop in the bucket in the scheme of things and a very calculated (and clever) move in a chess game that will likely see them owning 10% of the cell phone market.
This is the greatest marketing ploy for apple people by far. Now I can admit I would almost bend over backwards to get an iphone but the reality is, my at&t 8125 works just fine. I never gave apple the time of day before the iphone but one thing I always knew about apple was that it was way overpriced, and everyone else in the world too knows that and it's common knowledge. So lets take the iphone for example, with the buying power of apple they negotiate like walmart for their prices on screens, memory, and of course had the ability to get someone drunk enough at at&t to accept a deal that gives away so much power of the carrier. So the phone starts off outrageously high in price, and if you do the math on components which are in the iphone on ebay even you see that probably even including r&d costs, the phone only cost them 300 or 350 to make (and once enough are sold the r&d goes away). Anyways clearly there was a huuuuuge profit on each phone, so what they are doing here, is pulling a move like our friends at microsoft always do. Give away the product so they can buy the services later. So they will give you a 100 dollar gift certificate and you might go and buy itunes or lets say a shuffle and they won't do as well, but lets say you go and buy another iphone for a signifigant other or a ipod touch, they are losing some profit on it, but they are liquidating inventory, keeping their investors happy, and gaining market share. Then again going back on itunes, buying more overpriced content and having their way with you, but again will just let mac fans live in joyful ignorance, cause it's always going to be this way, and you always know by the time you start to enjoy a product from apple a newer toy will be hitting the shelves. (sigh... ) thanks for listening
This is the biggest load of rubbish I've ever read outside of a Bush speech. You're actually criticizing Apple for making money. Quality of argument in these comments has sunk to a new low.
you only get the gift certificate if you didn't qualify for the 14-day money credit, so you don't get -200 +100, it's either or
why is there such a small HD on the iphone. It seems like they will be upgrading past 16 gigs very, very quickly. If it is supposed to replace an ipod, video ipod, picture holder, it better really get a bigger HD fast.
Not a hard drive. Flash memory.
Get off your high horses guys, this idea was ingenious
perhaps planned maybe not, what I see from this is Apple adjusting to being in a new and competitive market, price drops happen all the time with mobile phones and whats happened here is that its willingness to act in a new market has conflicted with its brand reputation/quality.
It was a good move.
1) Keeps the Apple 'Cult' happy.
2) Great PR and marketing
3) Retains iPhone loyalty and future loyalty (especially new users who've never used Apple products before)
4) Looks like a marketing buffoon. This was a dumb mistake on the highest-visibility CE product in the past decade.
If they surpass their sales predictions (which looks good) ... than it won't be a mistake!
Well If i'm a moron then how come I just got a $200.00 credit from them. What can you say about that and Also this Moron has been involved in Apple products for 30 years. Oh yea by the way I understand allot of other morons are getting the same $200.00.
Tahhhhhh
$100 is better than a kick in the pants.
I have had apple stock for the past year and a half so when I heard 2 months after i bought my iphone that there is a $200 price drop I wasn't that angry because I have earned a very pretty penny from this stock, I knew going into my purchase that it could drop in price (never thought it would happen this early though) and the device for me was worth at least $600. So to hear this news of a $100 store credit is amazing, to have had the pleasure of enjoying my iphone for two months has been amazing and now I can put the $100 towards an ipod fatty for the gym or extra storage. I have thought this for a while, Steve Jobs is "the" business MAN!
Not sure whether anyone's mentioned this already, but arch rivals Microsoft did this with the original Xbox when it was released, at least in the UK. The original price point was £299, which swiftly dropped to £199. All customers who bought it at the higher price got a couple of games of their choice, and an accessory of their choice, packed up and sent to them as a gesture of goodwill and as a kind of thanks for supporting them early on! The total for those would have been about £120 if bought separately, so it really was a great gesture to the early adopters. So before you all go nominating Steve Jobs for sainthood, remember that this is one case where Microsoft was there first, and Apple were the imitators!
**DISCLAIMER** I own both Microsoft and Apple products and am fairly impartial as to which company is the best; it seems to me that they both have their own strengths and weaknesses in different areas. Please don't start a flame war!
Funny thing. Everything at the Apple store now costs $125 more than it did before.
I bet they could not wait to publish their new product.. like.. have you ever seen a CEO having an iPhone with him.. showing off in TV Shows.. :) NO... i dont think this was planned, or maybe it was even.. get everyone to look at apple by releasing this motherfkng nice phone.. then release 3 new iPods which one even looooks like the iPhone ooo wooooooooooww!!! so everyone wants an Apple product.. but yes apple is nice shit.. ive got an iphone myself too but need to unlock it for Orange NL :)..
I was more than happy to have paid my "iPhone tax" to have it early but if Steve is giving away free apple money i'll take it. My wife is really wanting to finally replace her ipod mini. So I'll probably use it towards a nano "fatty" for her.
Thanks Steve, YOU ROCK!!!!
Didn't Apple just get sued becaause the cost of replacing the battery in the iPhone came to about $100?
hmmm. when you think about it, apple is basically admitting that the iphone is way overpriced. the amount of money it takes for them to make one is most likely ~200.
How are we going to prove we have an iPhone? I hope its by serial number, because god knows where my receipt is.
"And definitely unprecedented in the consumer electronics industry that a company would give cash back to early adopters..."
======================
As a couple of other people have mentioned, a GIFT CERTIFICATE is NOT CASH.
Still, a good gesture to keep the his most valuable lemmings buying.
WHO MADE NUMEROUS IPHONE APPS IN THE NET SO YOU PEOPLE CAN ENJOY IT???? IT'S US WHO BOUGHT IPHONE EARLIER ON!!!! WHO DEFENDED APPLE WHEN OTHER PEOPLE BAD-MOUTH ABOUT MAC??? IT'S US, THE LOYAL FAN!!!
STEVE, YOU ARE TOTALLY RIGHT ABOUT "TECHNOLOGY ROAD IS BUMPY", IT'S US MADE APPLE TODAY, DUDE!!!
I DEMAND FULL $200 CASH BACK!!!!
I think he's talking about M4A/M4P, which is an ignorant comment since M4A is just apple's container for the MPEG 4 Advanced Audio Codec (or AAC for short), which is the successor to the MPEG Audio Layer 3 (or MP3 for short) and is a vastly improved codec.
I'm personally getting tired of the "it only cost's apple $200 to make the iPhone".
First, that is an estimate, but let's assume it's true. Second, t,hat is the cost to build the hardware only. That does not include other, albeit completely non-important, things such as the R&D for the software, assembly, etc. It also doesn't include sales and marketing costs.
Is apple making a lot of money on the iPhone? Sure they are, but at least know what you are talking about before you open your pie hole.
Wow! These guys called this back in JANUARY!!!
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6151185.html
To all you people who feel like Steve Jobs cares about you...think again! This "cashback" is merely a deceiving business ploy, which aims to accomplish two things (and succeeds): Firstly, it maintains morale among pre-pricecut iPhone owners, keeping them onside with a seemingly generous apple gift certificate to compensate them for their potential losses. But more importantly, it is an APPLE GIFT CERTIFICATE, meaning that straight away the money is going right back into the company! In addition to this, the sum of $100 is not going to buy you a new Mac or iPod. Instead, you're more likely to spend it on some sort of accessory: the kind of item that has the highest profit margin. It helps them move stock too.
Think about it. It's a win-win situation for Apple, and for the customers who fall for it.
So sure it might be nice to get a little something extra, considering that a $100 Apple gift certificate wouldn't have come to you any other way. That's okay. **But don't think that Steve Jobs cares about you.**
Good thing I bought 4 iPhones! mmmmm $400.
I think this wrong. People who purchased it @ the 599.99 price should get back 200.00 in cash. What they did was wrong. Also I heard the phones weren't that great anyway. I wouldn't purchase one, even though I just looked @ them.
I think this wrong. People who purchased it @ the 599.99 price should get back 200.00 in cash. What they did was wrong. Also I heard the phones weren't that great anyway. I wouldn't purchase one, even though I just looked @ them.
I think this wrong. People who purchased it @ the 599.99 price should get back 200.00 in cash. What they did was wrong. Also I heard the phones weren't that great anyway. I wouldn't purchase one, even though I just looked @ them.