Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Rumors, iPhone
Maybe a contract-free iPhone is NOT out of the question
Yes, the commercials say "2 Year Activation". Yes, I said that it looked like prepaid options were out of the picture. This came a few weeks after after we had heard rumors about prepaid iPhone codes. This evening, Christopher Price over at Phone News dropped me a note and we briefly chatted back and forth. He pointed me to an article he'd written about newly launched AT&T options for pay as you go customers.
Price thinks prepaid isn't dead despite what you see in those commercials. The new AT&T feature packages look as if they're ready to bring prepaid phone services to a new level. So 2-year-contract? No 2-year-contract? Prepaid? No prepaid? I'm just getting whiplash. What do you think?
Oh and by the way: that commercial Scott posted earlier today? Check out the very end and see if you notice...what's missing.
Update: Commercial is LIVE at Apple. No "2 Year Contract"--although the earlier commercials still say that.
Update 2: TUAW Reader Steve reports that he's not seeing the "2 Year Contract" line on the live repeats of the first 3 TV ads either. Can any other readers confirm that these have changed as well?
Update 3: TUAW Reader Gruff reports that the text is now missing from all the online Apple ads.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Josh H. said 10:10PM on 6-06-2007
I've been looking at AT&T's plans because I want an iPhone...and I'm gonna say...there plans suck! That's the only thing keeping me from an iPhone...idk about anyone else.
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uros said 10:12PM on 6-06-2007
Um, maybe you don't see the message at the end of the Internet commercial because it was covered. Plus, the hand wasn't covered by the border of the movie.... and the Internet commercial we've seen isn't the same aspect ratio as the official ads.
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Steve said 10:17PM on 6-06-2007
If you check out the re-runs of the first 3 adds on tv, they omit the "2 year" scentence also.
-Steve
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Uros Dimitrijevic said 10:17PM on 6-06-2007
Ah, nevermind. I didn't notice that the Watered Down ad was on Apple's website now.. ^^
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Erica Sadun said 10:17PM on 6-06-2007
Hi Uros: Check out the version over at Apple. No "2 Year Activation" there either: http://www.apple.com/iphone/ads/ad4/
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Gene Cowan said 10:18PM on 6-06-2007
This ad (it now appears on Apple's website named "Watered Down") doesn't have the contract requirement. Interesting.
The other three ads DO have the contract line.
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serialex said 10:30PM on 6-06-2007
You're really grasping at straws here. Any plan is in form an agreement or a contract -- welcome to the world of business. And, whether you call it a plan or a contract, it's going to last for 2 years. If you're not ready to commit, don't bother standing in line.
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mike said 10:42PM on 6-06-2007
not nessecarily, im holding out for some kind of sim free or pay as you go version (hopefully) as i live in the UK but ill be damned if im gunna wait till october or whenver, ill buy one in the US and just hope that its not locked etc so i can use it.
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mike said 10:41PM on 6-06-2007
check the first iphone ad in small, no requires anything on that either!
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tokyoshock said 10:43PM on 6-06-2007
I called AT&T today to ask about the service contracts for those looking to get an iPhone. In particular, I asked how it would work for those whom currently have AT&T and an existing contract (like myself and many others). Would we get a 2-yr. addendum to our contract? The phone rep. informed me that the 2-yr. contract was only for new subscribers to AT&T and did not affect existing customers.
The price will be the same for new customers and existing (can't avoid that $600), she said. Existing customers wishing to purchase a phone could either go through AT&T or an Apple store and they would not incur an added 2-years to their existing contract.
Just thought I'd pass this info along.
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Rubbinz said 10:44PM on 6-06-2007
Erica, you keep forgetting that various States Laws require that phones offered on contract must also be offered at a no contract price. They're not required to advertise that offering, but are required to offer it.
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Austin Archibald said 10:51PM on 6-06-2007
Only Calimari commercial took the 2 year activation line out. How-to and Never been an ipod still have the line.
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Peter Payne said 10:52PM on 6-06-2007
I live in Japan, but spend a few months in the U.S. in the summer. I *want* an iPhone but can never consider getting one with a monthly contract. I would *love* for this to be an option for me...
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supes said 10:59PM on 6-06-2007
The commercial aired during 'Top Chef' on Bravo this evening and did not include the contract required statement.
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Gruff said 11:03PM on 6-06-2007
Not just ads 3 and 4, now -- ALL of them are now missing the activation line.
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Erica Sadun said 11:02PM on 6-06-2007
Tokyoshock: I called up AT&T today too. I got elevated to a "specialist". She asked me which phone I was interested in and I said "the iPhone" and she asked "who makes that?"
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supes said 11:07PM on 6-06-2007
I don't think AT&T should be calling the shots here. Everyone should let Apple's marketing department know how they feel about two-year contracts, just in case.
http://www.apple.com/pr/contacts/
Jennifer Bowcock
Senior Manager, iPhone
(408) 974-9758
jennifer.b@apple.com
Jennifer Hakes
iPhone
(408) 974-7439
jenniferh@apple.com
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D$ said 12:25AM on 6-07-2007
"2 Year" Tag removed from all ads on apple's website and from broadcast reruns of all spots.
I wouldn't read too much in to this though.... I work in advertising and we change/remove legal lines all the time. Plus legal is the last dept to approve, so they may have just been playing it safe until legal had their say.
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Kai Cherry said 11:34PM on 6-06-2007
Maybe (I don't know) this will help, as I've been a Cingulatt customer for years:
Once you are on cingular, they really don't care how many phones you buy, or for that matter, where they even come from. I've walked into a shop *many times* with phones from Europe that they don't even sell for WAP settings, etc or just to let the guys mess with them.
All of the phones they sell have a non-contract price. You can walk into a star, as I have done many times and say..."I want that one."
You pay the sticker price, no harm, no foul.
The discounts are "incentives" for new customers, or current ones about to go out of contract, as it was explained to me.
It appears that Apple's phone will work on the basic premise that it costs what it costs; there is no subsidy, as been stated since January.
If you are a current customer, its just like buying any other phone at full price; your contract terms don't change unless you need to significantly change your service to support the phone's features.
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Michael Sternberg said 12:09AM on 6-07-2007
The question is not only about a two-year contract, but also whether the phone is SIM-locked. Without the lock, you could take the phone on travel and pop in another SIM card to make presumably cheaper local calls when abroad.
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