Steve Jobs to issue $100 Credit to iPhone Early Adopters


To all of you early iPhone adopters out there, Steve Jobs has something he’d like to say to you.

In a statement posted on Apple.com Apple CEO Steve Jobs issued a statement to the legions of upset iPhone early adopters.

First, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to ‘go for it’ this holiday season. iPhone is so far ahead of the competition, and now it will be affordable by even more customers. It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone ‘tent’. We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that this holiday season.

Second, being in technology for 30+ years I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always change and improvement, and there is always someone who bought a product before a particular cutoff date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever. This is life in the technology lane. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you’ll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon. The good news is that if you buy products from companies that support them well, like Apple tries to do, you will receive years of useful and satisfying service from them even as newer models are introduced.

The statement goes on to say that Apple has “decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store.

Full details will be coming next week.

As someone who wasn’t all that upset about the price drop, I’m very pleased by this. It’ll save me a few buck on the .Mac Family Pack I’m going to need to buy. This is an unprecedented move, and something Jobs and Co. really didn’t HAVE to do. However, I do think it is the right thing to do…and I’m glad to see them take this step.

What do you think?

Thanks to Rick for the heads up.


Kokou Adzo

Kokou Adzo is a stalwart in the tech journalism community, has been chronicling the ever-evolving world of Apple products and innovations for over a decade. As a Senior Author at Apple Gazette, Kokou combines a deep passion for technology with an innate ability to translate complex tech jargon into relatable insights for everyday users.

4 Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Absolutely brilliant move. That is the exact step that they needed to take.

    Now…those Nano’s are looking better and better.

  2. I was not upset, either, but I was not surprised that they did it. There was a similar situation when Aperture first came out. I can’t recall how much credit they gave us, yet it was nice to have.

  3. I think Jobs found out that iphone buyers are not the usual Apple sheep who’ll blindly (and quietly) but up with the usually Apple burn job on pricing/features. Every Apple laptop buyer knows what I’m talking about! New features/new prices about one month after purchase.