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Not Buying It: Sanford Analyst Toni Sacconaghi's iPhone Hit Job

Tom B,

iPhone is a very functional device. So is a Blackberry. What justifies the difference in price... before it slashed it by 50%? I'm not bashing the phone. I'm just saying, I think many of you are living in some dream world when you claim your companies will be buying every employee one anytime soon.

Right now, I'm just as happy with the iphones as I am with all the little nuggets of coal I own. No technology at all in coal, but they are just the rave!!! Everybody's "must have".

Not Buying It: Sanford Analyst Toni Sacconaghi's iPhone Hit Job

jmmx,

Good catch! But my first GPS was a gift... from a relative with irresponsible buying habits. She was one of those living in CA when the housing prices soared and cashed out. She put her $300k in gains in the bank, didn't invest and sent most of her money back to her family members in the Phillipines. During her short stint as her family's cash cow, she decided I needed to have a GPS like hers, so hence the gift.

After using it for a few years, I accidentally fried it by charging it with the wrong charger. No longer was owning a GPS a luxury, now I had grown used to owning one. So I bought the new one for $150.

And I reiterate, owning an iphone is a perceived status icon more than a necessity. Lucky me, like all the other shareholders, many Americans are very wrapped up in perceptions.

Not Buying It: Sanford Analyst Toni Sacconaghi's iPhone Hit Job

And I might add, I have an EnV from LG. Gets internet. Had a ringer. Suits me fine.

Not Buying It: Sanford Analyst Toni Sacconaghi's iPhone Hit Job

Aha, must have missed that info price nugget. I knew Jobs had plans to reduce the price to ensure the target number of sales, but didn't know how low it would go. It was recently $400 and I know because I was in the store trying to convince myself to buy one. Still wound up walking out empty handed.

Not Buying It: Sanford Analyst Toni Sacconaghi's iPhone Hit Job

I suspect those of you IT people here claiming that your companies will be purchasing iphones for all your employees work in high-tech or education. Try selling this idea to the bulk of manufacturing companies who have already been struggling the past 15 years as they have watched their revenues continue to plummet in a global market. They would laugh you right out of their office.

I personally know millionaires who refuse to pay $400 for a cell phone. Then again, I know someone who makes $40k who owns 2. The price is just too high for smart buyers.

Not Buying It: Sanford Analyst Toni Sacconaghi's iPhone Hit Job

I don't own an iPhone, but I do own Apple. The people I know who have purchased iPhones spend their limited incomes frivolously and are impulse buyers. When you look at the cost of an iPhone proportionately to the average level of income, it just doesn't compute for many people. And while I'm banking on lots of people being dumb with their money, don't expect corporations to follow suit. 400 clams is a car payment for most people, or almost half of a house payment, or a child support payment. Why would any intelligent consumer shell out that much money for a platform that will soon be replicated and available for much less in time?? Look at the GPS. My first one was $750. The second one was $150 and performs the same.

Additionally, there are some mighty comparable phones out there for almost nothing! And honestly, companies want employees to be accessible at their every whim. That's what the Blackberry does, and does it well. Why would companies want to pay for extra bells and whistles, particularly in this economy? They all have financial managers who would protest mightily.

There is only a small percentage of corporate execs who get the top bennies, like a company car that's NOT a Ford Escort, or stays at the Ritz-Carlton, or private jets. These folks may have an iPhone provided for them, but don't count on the rest.

That being said, KEEP BUYING THEM!! I love this stock.