Rumor: A discounted iPhone 3G coming to a Costco near you?
November 12, 2008 | Robert Nelson
The latest of the rumors surrounding the iPhone 3G is sure to sound good to anyone who is still considering a purchase, it seems that you may be able to grab one for $149 at Costco. The information comes courtesy of analyst Trip Chowdry who believes that the discounted iPhone 3G will be available beginning in January of 2009.
Unfortunately, at this time, we can only consider this in the rumor stage, and it is important to point out that while analysts are often correct, they also do not always get things entirely correct. As always, when more information becomes available we will keep you up to date.
This is one rumor that I hope becomes fact. A $149 iPhone in some people’s mind would strip the iPhone of it’s exclusiveness, because it would become more accessible to the masses. The reality is, AT&T would still have their credit standards in place for service and not everyone would qualify for AT&T service, so there would still be a degree of exclusiveness, at least as far as the service plans go. I travel widely to the Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South East Asia and I can vouch that most of the people on this Planet are prepaid wireless subscribers, just as most folks on the Planet, get on the Internet via their cellphones. I can’t wait for the U.S. to catch up with the rest of the world in offering greater flexibility with service options and not those aggravating yearly contracts.
In the past, when Apple products appeared at Costco, a new version of those products soon appeared at the Apple Store. I have used this signal even more reliably than the product “shortages” that start happening a week or two before the new version is officially announced. So, could this mean another iPhone version is in the pipes?