iPhone 3G: $199 price is good, $60 monthly bill not so much
That's my analysis of the iPhone situation.
A dramatic price drop for what is admittedly the coolest gadget out there is a significant breakthrough.
But paying AT&T $60 per month or more, even with the promise of unlimited 3G Web access, is just too much — for the likes of me, anyway.
For those willing to pony up the $720/year (plus whatever fees and taxes can be sneaked in), 3G represents a significant performance boost for iPhone users.
And it's still the coolest device out there.
Drop the monthly fee to $30, and I'll be a whole lot more interested.
Lower the price of the iPod Touch (like an iPhone without the phone) to $199, or even better, $99, and me and my money will soon be parted.
My predictions:
- The iPhone 3G will kill off what little is left of the Palm platform, and every other handset maker is going to be in a whole new world of hurt.
- Expect cell carriers that are not AT&T to be clamoring for the opportunity to offer the iPhone. Hopefully a price war of sorts will ensue.
- Look for Google to either put a full-court press on its Android platform or begin offering a Google-branded handset.
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Steven Rosenberg aims to learn what he does not know. He writes about it here.
Steven Rosenberg aims to learn what he does not know. He writes about it here.
You are holding out for $30 a month for cell service - does anybody even offer that?? If so, sign me up! I thought most plans start at about $50.
Most of the cell-phone service plans seem to start at $40 for voice (no data).
I guess if you don't have a land-line telephone, spending $80 for two cell phones might be warranted.
There are $30 cell-phone plans. Not many, but some.
I continue to think that this kind of thing is just too expensive.
I have Web service at home for $20 a month.
I don't have cable or satellite.
Every time you put out between $20 and $100 for a monthly service, those things really add up.
Like I say in my column coming out this Saturday, I'd rather get an iPod Touch and use it for Web when I can get a free WiFi signal. I don't need all-the-time/everywhere connectivity, especially at $70-$100 a month.
Don't expect any other carriers to be competing with ATT to offer iPhones any time soon since the Apple/ATT contract gives ATT exclusive rights for the first five years, which we are almost exactly one year into.
Ugh!
AT&T must be kicking a lot of that money back to Apple and trying to make it up in volume.
Even with the data plan going from $20 to $30, which is what everybody else pays, the fact that you can get an iPhone for $199 — the same price as a Blackberry — means that Apple is really playing to win in the smartphone space.
About the only sticking point I can see is hard-core e-mail users preferring the Blackberry keyboard to the iPhone touchscreen.
And will Windows Mobile and Palm OS even be here (or relevant) in six months?