Apple now selling iPhones online in bid to clear inventory
In the latest sign that iPhone season is rapidly approaching and inventories of existing models need a push out the door, Apple is now offering to sell customers an iPhone 3G through its website and ship it out for free.
The move is an extension of the Cupertino-based company's Buy iPhone website, which until recently offered customers the option to pre-approving themselves for a AT&T wireless account, select a calling plan, and then driving down to their local Apple Store to pick up their newly reserved handset.
In an update to the site discovered this week, Apple now says customers can "order directly from the Apple Online Store and have your new iPhone shipped free to your door." Pricing remains the same at $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model.
The offer, which is available to new AT&T subscribers, is noteworthy given that Apple made a point of halting online sales of the handset when it transitioned to the iPhone 3G from the original iPhone. The move was designed to help stifle the grey market for iPhones, which thrived off people buying the phones in bulk in the U.S., unlocking them from AT&T's network, and then exporting them overseas.
With the iPhone now offered in approximately 80 countries, new models expected in the next few months, and billing information now required online, Apple appears to be tapping the popularity and connivence of its online store to help rid its warehouses of any overstock ahead of those new models.
Marketing chief Phil Schiller has made no secret that Apple plans to refresh its iPhone family of handsets each year, specifying June as the time when customers should put an ear out for news on the latest advancements.
Apple is currently beta testing iPhone Software 3.0, which is expected to ship on any new handsets the company announces this spring. It's promised the software for a "summer" release.
The move is an extension of the Cupertino-based company's Buy iPhone website, which until recently offered customers the option to pre-approving themselves for a AT&T wireless account, select a calling plan, and then driving down to their local Apple Store to pick up their newly reserved handset.
In an update to the site discovered this week, Apple now says customers can "order directly from the Apple Online Store and have your new iPhone shipped free to your door." Pricing remains the same at $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model.
The offer, which is available to new AT&T subscribers, is noteworthy given that Apple made a point of halting online sales of the handset when it transitioned to the iPhone 3G from the original iPhone. The move was designed to help stifle the grey market for iPhones, which thrived off people buying the phones in bulk in the U.S., unlocking them from AT&T's network, and then exporting them overseas.
With the iPhone now offered in approximately 80 countries, new models expected in the next few months, and billing information now required online, Apple appears to be tapping the popularity and connivence of its online store to help rid its warehouses of any overstock ahead of those new models.
Marketing chief Phil Schiller has made no secret that Apple plans to refresh its iPhone family of handsets each year, specifying June as the time when customers should put an ear out for news on the latest advancements.
Apple is currently beta testing iPhone Software 3.0, which is expected to ship on any new handsets the company announces this spring. It's promised the software for a "summer" release.
Comments
The move was designed to help stifle the grey market for iPhones, which thrived off people buying the phones in bulk in the U.S., unlocking them from AT&T's network, and then exporting them overseas.
What a great example of Apple missing out on sales to a LARGE market that wants nothing to do with locked phones.
...but twice the thickness and lousy AT&T 3G- still no thank you. I pity the fool who buys now. And why couldn't people buy 3G this way in the first place?
You really need to find something positive to do with your life. Being on here 24/7 complaining about everything cannot be healthy.
You really need to find something positive to do with your life. Being on here 24/7 complaining about everything cannot be healthy.
It's a lot healthier than ranting on others as only you know how to do.
So order yourself an iPhone now then- make yourself happy.
So, in other words, we are back to pretty much the same buying options that we were with the 2G.
Not the same. With the first iPhone you ordered without signing up for AT&T (you sign up in iTunes when you get the phone). Now, you have to sign up for the 2 year contract at ordering time. You have to provide your information including SSN before you they can ship you the iPhone.
data plans are cheaper than in the us..
carrier competition is urgently needed in the home of capitalism...
</sarcasm>
Well that's no way to clear inventory, now is it? I hoped for more sharper prized iPhones. Then again they mustn't get a cheap image either. I'm just waiting for the new iPhone. I just want to see steve balmers face again. But then crying over his misery. And the rest of the market trying to play catch up.
As long as the iphone remains with AT&T I will not even consider buying one.
Thanks for reminding me- I'm being tempted for a new 3.0.
I will wait and see how the reviews are for everything reglated to the phone call itself- clarity, dropped calls ,etc.
It is there where it always comes up below average in reviews here in NYC.
[...] Apple appears to be tapping the popularity and connivence of its online store to help rid its warehouses of any overstock ahead of those new models.
i think connivance sums it up. freudian slip?
Since when is June Spring?!
Since June 21st became the summer solstice.
Since when is June Spring?! And if Apple really wanted to clear the old stock out they'd drop the price...and I don't mean by $5.
......READ THE FINE PRINT
dude,,,,,, i did ,,, you also get a free zune with your iphone !!!!
lol
...but twice the thickness and lousy AT&T 3G- still no thank you. I pity the fool who buys now. And why couldn't people buy 3G this way in the first place?
Whose 3G service does the iPod have?
As long as the iphone remains with AT&T I will not even consider buying one.
Shame for you.
I hate AT&T, but only because I consider their entire iPhone business model criminal.
Service wise, no room to complain. 3G works beautifully I've dropped maybe 2 calls in a year, and it was driving through a dead zone.
People who complain about AT&T always do so for the wrong reasons. There are plenty of legitimate reasons though.