Apple slashes iPhone price by $200 to Boost Sales
Apple drops price by one-third on 8GB version, and unveils a new iPod and refreshed its portable media player lineup.
Wed, September 05, 2007
Macworld — Apple dropped the 4GB version of its mobile phone and slashed the price on the 8GB model to $399—$200 less than its introductory price.
Apple hopes that the price cut will spur sales of the mobile device it introduced in June, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said at a press event in San Francisco Wednesday.
iPhone sales have been closely watched since Apple released its mobile phone to much fanfare on June 29. Back in July, Apple's stocked slumped badly after AT&T announced iPhone activation figures that failed to meet analyst expectations.
Apple reported that it sold 270,000 iPhones during its fiscal third quarter and told analysts in July that it expected to sell 1 million phones by the end of September. Jobs said Wednesday that the company is on track to meet that goal.
Apple also ushered in a new addition to its music player offerings Wednesday, with a touch-interface widescreen iPod that resembles the company's popular iPhone. Like the mobile phone, the iPod touch is controlled by buttons and features wireless networking capabilities.
The iPod touch wasn't the only music player unveiled by Apple Wednesday; the company overhauled its entire iPod lineup Wednesday, adding video playback to the redesigned nano and interface enhancements to the re-dubbed iPod classic. The company also boosted the capacity on its top-of-the-line music player to 160GB.
Looking exactly like the iPhone and using many of the same technologies, the iPod touch features a multitouch interface, album artwork and video. The iPod Touch also has Wi-Fi support for 802.11 b and g networks, and includes a Safari web browser.
The iPod Touch features a 3.5-inch widescreen display with the same type of navigation buttons found on the iPhone. Icons on the display are for calculator, contacts, clock, calendar and settings. Icons on the bottom of the display allow you access to music, video and photos.
What separates the iPod Touch from the iPhone are the telephony capabilities.
The iPod touch is coming in two configurations—8GB and 16GB, for $299 and $399 respectively. Both models are expected to be available "in just a few weeks," according to Jobs, who said that Apple will ship them in September.
Apple also updated other pieces of its iPod line. The iPod "classic" comes with a metal design that's thinner than the previous generation. The nano now can play videos and games in addition to its music playback and photo slideshow capabilities.
