Expanding cost of iPhones

The iPhone is now available for just a tad less than $600.00 and has a one year warranty, and then you have to sign a one year contract with AT&T in order to be able to use it without the option of another carrier. Should you decide that you are dissatisfied with AT&T you can cancel that contract for about $175.00. As if that wasn't bad enough it was revealed today that the battery is soldered to the main board and will cost you $85.00 to have Apple replace it, but wait... they are now offering an extended one year warranty for $69.00. What a deal!

Correction: two year contract, I believe.

Expanding Cost (and contracts) of Iphones = Shrinking Audience (and Fans) of Iphones.

Some HSDPA 3.5G phones cost under US$50 in South Korea because SKT and KTF are competing for the next-generation phone markets. MicroSD, QVGA, good and slim design, much faster download...

Hehe....bang on.

Nah! If you stick an Apple badge on it, they will buy it at any
price, even if it is the worst phone on the market.
Apple=Cool Remember the iMac, Cube and iPod...

In some countries, having Apple is a symbol of status, luxury... Apple doesn't try to make their prices lower in those countries because higher prices mean better sales sometimes. There are literally hundreds of phone models already in South Korea and yet there are at least thousands who are waiting for iPhone. I'm 100% sure many will buy the phone even for US$1,200. Most stores here could sell LG's latest "Name Product (Myung Pum)" though the phone's lowest price was like US$1,000. For many millions, there are too many free phones that have nearly all of the latest features like playing 320 * 240 movie files and one- or two-megapixel camera.

And then there are people like me that don't give hoot about even having a camera on their phone as all they need it for is to talk.

Same here. Although I'm looking forward to inheriting my mum's LG when she tires of it

But camera and video capability on phones cost practically nothing. It's just like USB on motherboards. Taken for granted. Only when you want 10-megapixel... you pay.

Modern processors for mobile phones (price nearly zero) are far more powerful than the microprocessors (price US$100 to US$1,000) of the 1980s.