September 2007 Archives
For those of you living under a rock, yesterday Apple announced, among other things, a new set of iPods as well as a $200 price drop on their iPhone. If you are to believe most of the bloggers out there, Apple now owes them $200 because they dropped the price after 67 days.
Bologna.
Apple doesn't owe them a single thing. As a business in a capitalist society, Apple is free to charge whatever price they want. If they charge a price that is too high, the market will respond by purchasing fewer items, and Apple will probably lose money. If they charge a price that is too low, Apple will probably run out of supply too quickly and may or may not lose money (depending on a few other factors). There are no guarantees that the price you pay today will be the same as the price you pay tomorrow.
Some stores have a price policy where if the same item is on sale for a lower price after X number of days, they will refund you the difference. This is a courtesy, and not a law. If you notice, in most cases, it is the same as their return policy because they realize that you could just return it and rebuy the item at the lower price. Usually, items that are subject to higher price fluctuations (computers, etc.) have a shorter period.
Nobody held a gun to your head and forced you to buy one when it came out. If you are so broke that the $200 means a lot to you, can you really afford an iPhone (at any price, with a $60 /month--or more--plan) in the first place?
Just curious.
