What will it take for you to buy a new iPhone?


Rumors are flying this morning about Apple ordering 10 Million 3G iPhones. The source is about as accurate as my left foot would be at guessing these things, but that’s beside the point of this particular post.

We all know that Apple is gearing up for a 3G iPhone, and we all know that it’s launching soon. How soon, exactly, is up for debate. My money is on WWDC, but we’ll see. The real question in all of this is…

Will you buy one?

Now, as it stands today, I sit in an area with no 3G support, and I’m in a 2 iPhone family. Just adding 3G support is not enough motivation for either of us to upgrade to new phones. At&t is rolling out increased support for 3G all over the country,and I’m sure they’ll get here eventually – but right now 3G is mainly only available in a few select markets in the US.

Since Apple is fully aware of this, it leads me to wonder, will there be anything else new with the iPhone?

The latest rumor ads the possibility of an OLED display to the mix to make a thinner phone. Would that motivate you to purchase a new one? I’m not sure – I don’t really think that I’ll have to have a new one when they first launch based on the rumors swimming about right now. An additional camera isn’t terribly motivating to me, because I don’t really see much of a point in video chat on an iPhone. My opinion on that might change after using it, but it seems almost silly to me right now.

If 3G comes my way and the plans are the same (or very close), I might upgrade if the speed really is 10x faster than Edge, but right now, I love the screen on the iPhone, and I’m not sure I’d want it that much thinner…so it leaves me wondering if people in 3G less areas feel the same.

Could Apple really even sell 10 Million of these things with so many of the general public having just purchased iPhones? I’m not talking geeks here, I’m talking people like my parents-in-law who are chomping at the bit to buy iPhones as soon as their contract is up with Alltel. I don’t think the general consumer is going to be interested in upgrading so soon.

What do you think?


Kossi Adzo

Kossi Adzo is a technology enthusiast and digital strategist with a fervent passion for Apple products and the innovative technologies that orbit them. With a background in computer science and a decade of experience in app development and digital marketing, Kossi brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the Apple Gazette team.

37 Comments

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  1. They need 3G phones if they are to corner the international markets. That’s their bread and butter. That’s where when sales will really take off.

  2. The only thing that’s prevented me from buying one is the contract. I’m on pre-pay at the moment. I top up by £10 ($20) every 4-6 months. The only thing I use my phone for is to send and receive the odd message. I get five free messages every day for life, so I wouldn’t want to get rid of my sim card (you can’t sign-up for the free message plan anymore).

    So having to pay a minimum of £35 for the next 18 months is not even something I would consider. I’m ready to give Apple £269 for the device now. The ball’s in their court. I’m not holding my breathe.

  3. @Michael

    I’ve got myself an iTouch. I’d just like the convenience of one device, rather than carrying around two all the time. I’m pretty sick of my current mobile, but I don’t want to change it, only for Apple to change its mind about contracts the next day.

  4. OLED (“Organic light emitting diodes”) displays are considered as the screens of the future.

    Organic light emitting diodes have been receiving a lot of attention over
    the world as a new type of display technology. OLEDs have many advantages over
    conventional display technologies.

  5. What will it take for me to buy an Iphone?

    Honestly, not a fricking lot. Bout the only reason I haven’t bought one yet is that verizon would crucify me. So I guess the answer to the question is that, at least for now, it would require they get out of the exclusivity thing with AT&T. Since that’s not real likely, it’s probably going to have to wait a year. Come summer of next year, I will likely be SORELY TEMPTED.

  6. If it had a second camera, faster processing, larger hard drive, 3G and it was thinner… I would buy one as soon as 3G was available in my market (which may be awhile).

  7. The 3G is not necessarily to push current users to upgrade but for markets outside of US for Edge is not popular and 3G is the main stream.

  8. @Bill

    3G is much more widely used there, yes.

    @krye

    I think US sales do pretty well for the company. I don’t think they need the international market for things to take off (I’m pretty sure becoming the second largest phone on the market in less than a year is considered “taking off”), but I do agree that 3G will help increase sales overseas.

    😛

  9. Only making them available on other networks than AT&T. That, and convincing my wife that I NEEEEEED one.

  10. I think I would get one if there is 3G and the camera in the front. I think that might be a new social networking where I mean friends and family could see you. I think video chat is the future on phones.
    Though I don’t want a thinner phone I mean come on the iphone isn’t thin enough. Sometimes to thin is not cool I actually would like a 4 in screen something bigger with that new screen.
    Alas at least a 32g flash drive for all my movies and music.

  11. @MattFM

    In your case wouldn’t an iPod Touch be a better solution? I mean if you hardly ever use your phone, why wouldn’t you just go the touch route and forget the iPhone?

  12. @MattFM

    I don’t think you have to worry about Apple changing its mind about the contracts. The contract deal with At&t has been reported to be for at least 5 years.

  13. There is still pent-up demand for the iPhone. Still, the one thing you people are forgetting is that once the SDK-created applications hit the iPhone, demand will go through the roof with apps such as voice dialing, remote MS Office updating, ePocrates, Exchange Server, etc. Businesses will want in, for certain.

    It’s been proven that the processing power of the iPhone is far better than either the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP, so games could definitely be a sales booster. Social networking would be great if there really were to be a two-camera version of the iPhone.

    If Apple could increase the battery life of the iPhone by a couple of hours, it would be fantastic and hopefully stop the complaints about not having a user-replaceable battery.

    I don’t think we should be looking for any major price reductions for the iPhone, however. It will just have to sell on it’s overall versatility.

  14. i’ll get one when my wife says it’s ok! i don’t know why i’m waiting other than that reason. seriously though, just waiting for the new revision then i’m making the whole family jump to at&t. 1 iphone & 3 regular phones for family plans. i’ve been really happy with t-mobile for 6 years now, but the iphone is just too much to pass up.

  15. @Scott Paeth: Waiting for availability on another network is useless.
    The only other U.S. Network the iPhone could use is T-Mobile. There are no other nationwide GSM networks. As a former (happy) T-Mobile customer, I can assure you that AT&T has a better network.

    As for CDMA (Verizon) it’s never going to happen. GSM is the worldwide standard. Apple isn’t going to fatten the iPhone so they can stick two radios in there.

  16. Here in the US, I think 3G is more of a “future-proofing” situation. I know full well that as soon as I go buy an iPhone, Apple will announce the 3G iPhone and AT&T will have 3G service in my backyard.

    I’m waiting for Apple to reverse their decision about daemons running on the iPhone (I have a killer app that I want to write, but it requires a background process). Then I’ll go get one.

  17. 3G is a good start. but for me to REALLy get one, they would have to un-cripple the Bluetooth. thats just really bothersome to me, that you can only use it for headsets. its actually Bullshit that they did that, they busted a (evil) verizon move. reception i couldnt care less, i live in l.a and currently have ATT and i have full service and 3g almost everywere.

    someone help. can the iphone currently share its internet connection with a mac/pc? if it doesnt, that would HAVE to be a requirement. right now im without internet access at home (moving) and my i am using my 8525 windows mobile phone as a modem, and man on 3g i constaly get 200KB/s down. i NEED a phone that can do this, since i travel and i rather not pay for hotel wi-fi charges either.

  18. 3G is popular in the UK and will probably generate alot of extra sales of the iPhone here. Indeed many people are delaying purchase because of the lack of 3G on the current iPhone.

  19. what it would take me?

    lower prices and cheaper contracts – I think the iphone is an awesome device and now it’s sold in Austria (here) too – but it is incredibly expensive!

    €399 for the 8GB version (~$633)
    €499 for the 16 GB version (~$791)
    €39 monthly for the cheaper contract (~$62)
    €55 monthly for the more expensive one (~$88)

    contracts run 2 years…

    I don’t even want to know what they’d cost without the contracts…what would be of use to know – almost any other mobile phone (nokia, lg, samsung, sony ericsson, …) costs like €0 or €20 or something like that with a 1 year contract where you pay like €20 to €30 a month…

  20. A CDMA radio IN STEAD of a GSM radio.

    I’m sorry, but GSM is only good in densely populated urban areas in the US; CDMA is everywhere and reception and sound quality blows GSM out of the water everywhere I’ve tried it (I really couldn’t care less what Europe uses, I don’t live there; but I have traveled all over the US).

  21. The O2 contract in the UK at £35 is now a reasonable package – when it first came out, you didn’t get enough for the monthly fee.

    As eberlin mentions, 3G is pretty much everywhere in the UK (much more so than Edge) and as soon as a 3G iPhone is available, I know at least three people (my sister, wife and I) who will be buying it.

  22. There are markets other than the US.
    8 million phones are sold in Australia every year, in a population of just 20 million.
    Australia’s Telstra has an extensive 3G network which, it claims, reaches over 90% of the population.
    The iPhone hasn’t been released in Australia yet.

  23. @David

    “There are markets other than the US.”

    Nobody ever said that there weren’t. All I said was that Apple is making plenty of money off of the US market. Which they are.

  24. I plan to get an iPhone eventually. Maybe in a year.
    So if/when there’s a 3G iPhone, I’ll let other folks debug it and see how AT&T’s service stacks up.

  25. Basically, make me not regret buying an iPhone compared to other currently available phones, feature-wise. I’m not talking the freebie crap-ass phones (although some of them are quite nice: SEW580i), I’m talking, at least, the +$250 range like the Sony Ericsson Walkmans, Nokias, and smart phones. The iPhone, outside of the interface and Safari, is no more capable than my 2 year old SE W810. That sucks, in internet time.

    1. Bluetooth A2DP support: I find it unconscionable that a device that can communicate with a cell phone tower miles away can’t seem to get stereo sound to my head without a tangly cord (which seems to grab EVERY door knob it comes across–speaking from iPod experience). Apple’s gaffe on this one is rather like if Sony had shipped big-ass over-the-ear cans with a 1/4″ jack with the original Walkman. The future will look back in puzzlement.

    2. Bluetooth tethering: Apple is actually pushing ExpressCard AT&T 3G wireless cards on the MacBook Pro spec pages as part of their “Freedom built in” campaign. Huh? No mention of such freedom with a MacBook Air or MacBook. Guess they aren’t free. But WAIT! What’s this? I’m a good Apple fanboi with a Bluetooth-enabled phone and a data service! They pair! It tethers from the Bluetooth menu! “Where’s the internet? Oh there it is!” Except that phone is a Sony Ericsson. Gah. Sucks if you drank the Kool-Aid and bought an iPhone, “The internet is [still] hiding” for you.

    3. A sufficient camera flash would be nice. Come to think of it, so would video. So let’s just say fix up the camera and bring it into line with Sony Ericsson’s offerings.

    4. MMS. Well, MMS and a real chat program…say, iChat! Yeah, the thing needs iChat. And MMS. If I can do it on a Sony Eri…right, you’re tired of hearing that…got it.

    5. Louder ringing. I’m nearly deaf.

    6. A more capable Address Book- how about supporting multiple Address Books through the use of Groups? Just as with the Weather app, you could swipe through All, Personal, Work, Friends, Drinking Buddies, Family, Ex Girlfriends, etc. I don’t have 5000 contacts like Karl Rove, but I’d still really like this feature. (They could fix up the one in OS X too. Who designs Address Books? They are morons. Do they have no social life? Do they understand that SOME contacts are actually FAMILY UNITS, not simply individuals? The Jobs’–Steve and Katie)

    7. Open up the Ringtone creation process- okay, the record companies and AT&T had their time. Who buys ringtones? Morons do, that’s who. So let’s just open the code a bit and let the rest of us have the “easy” tools. I’m tired of the hassle.

    8. Does the goofy thing have a voice recorder yet? Better yet, implement a “Holy Crap I just got pulled over” Rodney King protection service feature that you can use to quickly, uh, document official business.

    Like I said, basically, go out, buy a Sony Ericsson W890, and copy every good technical feature (not UI) it has. An iPhone owner should have NO remorse compared to other phones on the market. None. Never a feeling of “Wow, that’s kinda cool.”

  26. 1.) Price
    2.) Open Lined no contracts
    3.) SMS, MMS
    4.) 5 Mega Pixel Cam
    5.) 3G
    6.) Wireles N
    7.) 80Gb version hehehe

  27. I would die for a 3G iPhone here in Europe… we have now 7.2 MB speeds over 3G network here in Slovenia and with Edge on my iPhone I’m just not satisfied. I would upgrade immediately. There are three features that would make me upgrade immediately:

    3G
    MMS support
    32GB of flash storage

    That’s it. No less no more and we would be happy

  28. Unfortunately I don’t know if there is anything that I can think of that would make me buy another iPhone. I think the iPhone works just fine now and with the SDK coming the iPhone will be able to do all that I want it to. I think the only thing that would really make me buy another one is if mine broke. At this point the phone does what I want it to and soon will be able to do practically anything I would ever want it to, unless 3G comes to my area and Apple comes out with a 3G phone I don’t see myself running to my local AT&T store for a new iPhone.

  29. Whatever Apple does, unless this german T-Mobile tariff is the only thing I can get, I won’t buy one – ever!

  30. 1. GPS
    2. 3G
    3. Video camera
    4. RadioFM
    5. Open Battery
    6. DualSim
    7. OLED screen

    I will buy this iphone for 599…