Wednesday, January 23, 2008

4GB iPhone - A Lower Priced iPhone

When Apple reduced the iPhone prices from 599 to 399, they also discontinued the 4GB iPhone and to exhaust their existing stock sold this model at 299. I don't have a whole lot of songs but was interested in the non-iPod related functionality (phone, maps, browser, touchscreen,...). Thus, for me, the price was in the sweet spot and 4GB of memory was just fine. One rarely buys iPod(iPhone) products without accessories (case, earphones,...). Thus, the phone is not really 299 but 299 + taxes + accessory cost.

I end up using the browser, maps, stocks, weather and notes more than the iPod functionality. Someone like me who does not have a whole lot of songs but is more interested in the constant connectivity and the non-iPod functionality would be an ideal candidate for the 4GB version of iPhone. Apple does sell other 4GB iPods - iPod Nano (which is $149). I think there is a market segment that would love to use the iPhone if Apple offered a lower price version - maybe ~ $275. The iPod Touch is great but does not have constant connectivity that an iPhone provides. Maybe once the 3G version is released, they could offer the EDGE model at a lower price. Only time will tell...

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