Where to Get an iPhone at… a discount?!!
By Steve Abrahamson
This morning, in his blog Converging worlds of IP Telephony, VoIP, Broadband,
Russell Shaw quoted Simon Croom, Ph.D., executive director of the Supply Chain Management Institute
at the University of San Diego, as saying this about the iPhone launch:
“Depending on reliability of the product, there may also be a rapid ramp
up in returns and warranty claims.”
That’s an excellent point. We all know that the v1 of any product is
likely to be just a little buggier than those that follow, so his
assertion is not really shocking. But wait a moment… what does Apple
do with those products it takes back on warranty replacement? Why, they
wind up on the Apple Outlet in the online Apple store, don’t they? For a
discount, no less.
Of course, this situation is a little stickier due to the AT&T interplay
and contract requirements and such, but it will be interesting to see if
ever-so-slightly discounted refurbished iPhones start to show up in the
Apple store. I’ve personally purchased refurbished merchandise from
there before, and it’s all perfectly good – maybe even better, being as
they are, as Garp so aptly put it, disaster-proofed.
Yet another interesting speculation surrounding the iPhone to sit and
idly watch play out.
Where to Get an iPhone at… a discount?!!
By Steve Abrahamson
This morning, in his blog Converging worlds of IP Telephony, VoIP, Broadband,
Russell Shaw quoted Simon Croom, Ph.D., executive director of the Supply Chain Management Institute
at the University of San Diego, as saying this about the iPhone launch:
“Depending on reliability of the product, there may also be a rapid ramp
up in returns and warranty claims.”
That’s an excellent point. We all know that the v1 of any product is
likely to be just a little buggier than those that follow, so his
assertion is not really shocking. But wait a moment… what does Apple
do with those products it takes back on warranty replacement? Why, they
wind up on the Apple Outlet in the online Apple store, don’t they? For a
discount, no less.
Of course, this situation is a little stickier due to the AT&T interplay
and contract requirements and such, but it will be interesting to see if
ever-so-slightly discounted refurbished iPhones start to show up in the
Apple store. I’ve personally purchased refurbished merchandise from
there before, and it’s all perfectly good – maybe even better, being as
they are, as Garp so aptly put it, disaster-proofed.
Yet another interesting speculation surrounding the iPhone to sit and
idly watch play out.
