Comments on: Is the $99 iPhone 3G Driving Smartphone Growth?

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:41:06 +0000

Kudos to georgi and kevin for a mature back and forth – don’t see that much in comments any more!

By: Luscious

Luscious — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:22:14 +0000

$99 certainly puts a big dent in the side of makers such as HTC. Their unlocked phones selling at sometimes $600+ on expansys is ridiculous. Even those models available directly through carriers like the Sprint TP2 sells at $300+. Paying more than $300 for a smartphone is simply a ripoff, since that price automatically puts you in a much higher device category – in this case netbooks.

My very first smartphone cost me $400 and became a brick after two years – money gone! Am I going to shell out $300 every two years just to have a working device? Hell no.

In today’s market, especially given the choices out there, you should NOT have to pay more than $199 for a top-of-the-line smartphone. If I can pick up a TMO TP2 for $199 online, Sprint and Verizon should both pony up and match their competitor. When you’re paying them sometimes $2000-plus over two years for service, the least they can do is give you a break on the price of the phone.

By: Hayden

Hayden — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:12:35 +0000

I think with the iPhone topping all the customer satisfaction surveys, Apple is confident that all they have to do is price the 3G so that consumers will say “well for that price I’ll give it a try”. Then basically if you run the numbers, Apple wins, because most first time iPhone users, will STAY iPhone users.

By: georgi55 g

georgi55 g — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:06:56 +0000

I would also like to add that I agree with the article’s main topic which is to say it’s lowering the cost of smartphones. that’s a good thing for consumer.

By: georgi55 g

georgi55 g — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:05:47 +0000

I would say so, I think that’s biggest flaw in iPhone right now.

I would also like them to open some of the settings like email notification sounds. Think about it millions and millions of iPhones out there just make a short “boing” sound when receiving email with a weak speaker that you could easily miss.

By: antonio

antonio — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:42:57 +0000

owned :)

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:32:29 +0000

georgi, you’re certainly entitled to your opinion and I respect that, but you’re logic is slightly flawed… in my opinion. ;) You say that the phone must support the ability to multitask for it to be a smartphone. The iPhone does support that feature. However, it’s limited by Apple to only apply to certain apps. That could easily expand in the future. Will it then be a smartphone for you?

By: georgi55 g

georgi55 g — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:19:53 +0000

due to its inability to run multiple apps at once. I “personally” think this automatically disqualifies it from a smartphone.

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:58:07 +0000

And the iPhone is not, why?

By: georgi55 g

georgi55 g — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:55:41 +0000

Please don’t call the iPhone a smartphone…a phone needs to be smart in order to be called “smartphone”