Apple: What the iPhone 3G Will Really Cost You
Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, perhaps the most bullish analyst on the Street on Apple (AAPL) shares–he maintains a Buy rating and $250 price target–wrote a detailed analysis today on what the true cost of the iPhone 3G will be for U.S. consumers. In short, while the retail price, at $199, is half the old price, other costs will make this version more expensive than the old over the life of the required two-year contract. And secondly, he estimates that the actual costs of the hardware will be a lot higher than the stated $199 price tag.
One issue, as Munster notes, is that the data plan for the first generation iPhone phone was $20 a month, including unlimited data and 200 text messages a month, on top of a voice plan. For the new phone, the data plan is $30 a month, and it will run you another $5 a month for 200 text messages. On that basis, the data-related fees over the course of two years will actually be $360 higher than before, or considerably more than the $200 cut in the hardware price.
Comments
For an interesting article about the iPhone 3G and its origins, check out:
http://therelevantelephant.com.....roduction#
Posted by Nathan Mallonee at July 10th, 2008 at 6:45 pmOkay… and you’re also getting 3G service with access speeds 2x-3x that of the existing phone.
Or is Gene saying that AT&T should provide double the speed for the same exact price?
Posted by Michael Long at July 10th, 2008 at 9:12 pm