Since the first iPod Touch Apple has been charging Touch users for upgrades. $4.95 to get it to the latest 3.1 software. See Apple – iPod touch – Get great new features with the 3.1 software. My guess is it is now time to charge all the millions of iPhone users for the next generation 4.0 software. Which begs two questions.
What would be in the software upgrade that you would pay for? Some examples?
- Video like the 3GS
- Full Bluetooth Support (like iBluetooth on steroids)
- Some new reading options
The dilemma is making Iphone4HD compelling enough to keep a large number of people trading up and capture all that potential value. Let’s see…. 50 million phones at $10!!! It is too big a prize not to work out. Upgrades to Snow Leopard etc also make it possible. Look to Apples future strategy in this regard and you can see an annual software update coming that is family pack like with OSX and iPhone iLife etc. As a strategy this moves Apple forward faster.
Why didn’t Apple Charge for previous versions?
I have a guess that it is to do with the AT&T contract. Still isn’t that contract being changed? If I was AT&T I wouldn’t want my customers to pay more for a phone I’ve subsidized. Can you imagine getting a phone one week and then having to pay apple the next to upgrade it? It may be that all phones older than 1 year have to pay and some updates are retroactive. That cuts into the $upside for Apple. Maybe it will cost you $19.95 and 50% goes to AT&T? It would hurt but it is cheaper than the new phone option.
Net Net that makes Apple’s smartphone even more profitable. I don’t think there is one other manufacturer that can charge for an upgrade like this. More importantly, Apple is the only one that seems to have a fault free software update system in place.
As for me. My iPhone will be out of contract. Maybe if it is two or more years old I can get an “official unlock” from Apple and then like “japaneese car imports” (second hand trade to many countries) and used PC’s I can donate it to advancing third world progress. That would provide quite an incentive to trade up too.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’d pay more than that. Great post.
Anyone who pays to fix bugs in a phone and add features that the phone is capable of anyways is retarded. It may be a good business model but it amounts to nickel and diming you for something you’ve already had to refinance your house to buy. It also says that apple could care less about the quality and features their overall product has and is more concerned with microcharges. Apple will never be allowed in my household or business.