I think it's a great move by Apple to make the 3gs seem free because it says the following:
1. 3gs owners: it's time to upgrade to the 4/4s (that's me)
2. It'll burn down existing stocks a lot faster. What was more valuable, an HP TouchPad in production or an HP TouchPad when the production was stopped?
3. Parents who have an iPhone will be able to get their kids one on the cheap, thus reclaiming ownership of the ir own phone. This also indoctrinates the child into the world of the iPhone, a strategy Apple has pursued with all of its products since the very beginning.
4. Lastly: get the phone into the hands of a holdout, at least on a trial basis, and hope for an upgrade after a couple of months, if not the same day in-store.
Market share is very important to Apple as it bears on their bottom line and while not compromising on quality (low-end iphone) they can still get a portion of that share by unloading old 3gs stock and maybe even removing 1 & 2 stock still out there in the wild that does nothing to promote present-day Apple products. Walk into any of their stores with an ugly piece of hardware and they'll try hard enough to get you to hand it over.
Sure, but Apple is betting that once they have an iOS phone in their hands, and judging just by repeat customer shopping patterns, they have a pretty good chance of upgrading that customer to a 4s, if not at least a 4. All they have to do is get that phone in their hands.
1. 3gs owners: it's time to upgrade to the 4/4s (that's me)
2. It'll burn down existing stocks a lot faster. What was more valuable, an HP TouchPad in production or an HP TouchPad when the production was stopped?
3. Parents who have an iPhone will be able to get their kids one on the cheap, thus reclaiming ownership of the ir own phone. This also indoctrinates the child into the world of the iPhone, a strategy Apple has pursued with all of its products since the very beginning.
4. Lastly: get the phone into the hands of a holdout, at least on a trial basis, and hope for an upgrade after a couple of months, if not the same day in-store.
Market share is very important to Apple as it bears on their bottom line and while not compromising on quality (low-end iphone) they can still get a portion of that share by unloading old 3gs stock and maybe even removing 1 & 2 stock still out there in the wild that does nothing to promote present-day Apple products. Walk into any of their stores with an ugly piece of hardware and they'll try hard enough to get you to hand it over.