BGR has just reported an interesting rumor for iPhone users in the US who are planning to upgrade to the next generation iPhone which is rumored to be launched in June.
BGR is claiming that they have got some details on a “Phone Trade-In” program that AT&T is apparently planning to launch sometime around June.
As per BGR, here are some of the conditions of the rumored “Phone Trade-In” program:
- The phone being traded in in can’t be more than two years old and must be in fair shape.
- The new phone will not have any subsidies applied to it, so basically whatever your trade-in covers will be your “savings”
- Trade-ins will be valued from $50 to $200
The timing of the launch of the “Phone Trade-In” program sometime around June is particularly interesting as it is widely speculated that the next generation iPhone will also be released in June after Phil Schiller's, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing made a statement to David Pogue of New York Times at Macworld 2009 that iPhone's annual product cycle is June.
Though trading-in the older iPhone with AT&T while buying the new iPhone will be more convenient, users might be better off
selling their older iPhone at one of the places we had mentioned in our
article to get a higher price: Find out which is the Best Place to Sell your Used Original iPhone which we had written when iPhone 3G was launched.
Do you plan to upgrade to the next generation iPhone? Do you think AT&T's “Phone Trade-In” program would be a good idea?
[via Techmeme]
Sounds fishy to me. The iPhone, just like any other product out there, gains power with numbers. The more iPhones out in the public's hands the better. The more phones out there, the more likely developers are to step into app development. Current owners are more likely to sell their old phones, or pass them on to family members, than to just let them sit in a drawer. That means more iFart apps sold, more people buying songs on iTunes, more customers with AT&T, more market share, all of which is good for business. It also introduces the iphone to many people who may not otherwise buy an iPhone. Most people who buy a used iPhone or get one from a family member, would not pony up full price, or sign on for a two year contract. After using an older one, they may be more inclined to buy a new one next time.
And I doubt that apple is going to be opening up a larger refurb market, especially since the prices for their current refurbs aren't very cheap anyway.
And as for subsidizing…in these economic times, far fewer people are likely to pay the high price they are gonna be asking. Just imagine how many fewer 3G's they would have sold if they were unsubsidized.
Just doesn't sound right to me, but what do i know…I still think that emojicons don't hurt anyone, and that MMS should work on my iPhone (shrugging my shoulders)
My guess is that they have made hardware changes in the new phones to prevent jailbreaking as it stands now and they want to get the existing phones that can be jailbroken off the street.
Why don't they just announce the next iphone already? Dag yo.
It's a hoax
just sell it on eBay. if it's jailbroken/unlocked you'll get much more than $200.
I will be upgrading to the new one if the features we have been clamoring for are there and then I will give my iPhone 3g to my brother I wont be trading it in for a measly 200 bucks especially since its jailbroke, I might get one of my other cheaper phones out of the drawer and trade those in
I already have a standing order for my phone come June. Getting twice that cause it's unlocked and such. AT&T can keep thier piddly handout. They are just trying to get folks to sell them thier old iPhones so there are no off contract devices out there to put on tmoble.
With every new iphone going from the 8g to the 16g original, and from the 16g original to the 16g 3g, I have been able to sell my current jailbroken phone for MORE money than the cost of the newer one. Don't go for the trade in.