Apple might not have made the iPhone 5c as cheap as many might have expected, but this isn’t stopping the big department store chains from offering wide-spread discounts mere weeks after its big debut.
Best Buy is the most recent big vendor to get on board with a new $50 ‘discount’ in the form of a voucher than can be redeemed in-store for other goods. Other sellers such as Walmart, Radioshack and even Sprint have already released their own discounted prices.
Best Buy’s offer:
Signing up to a new two-year contract via Best Buy will still run you the recommended retail price of $99 up-front for your 16GB iPhone 5c. In return, you’ll receive a $50 gift voucher that can be used to purchase other items. Notably, you can’t turn around and use this voucher to get $50 off of your iPhone 5c purchase.
Walmart and Radioshack’s offer:
Both Walmart and Radioshack have been offering the iPhone 5c 16GB model for just $45 up-front on a new 2-year contract. This is a saving of roughly 55% on the up-front cost.
Radioshack will be ending its promotion on November 2. Walmart’s offer will run through the holiday season.
Target’s offer:
Target has jumped on-board the bandwagon, too. For $79.99 you’ll get an iPhone 5c 16GB on a 2-year contract, which is $20 under Apple’s specified price.
Sprint’s offer:
Sprint is giving the iPhone 5c 16GB to select new customers for $0 on a two-year contract. The deal is for new Sprint customers who port their number over from one of Sprint’s competitors. This is the same price as the iPhone 4S 8GB, although you’d be crazy to choose that option over the 5c.
Interesting times
For any other smartphone, a price-drop like this wouldn’t be of note; but traditionally Apple has kept very tight control over the prices of its iPhones. iPhones have never dropped below their Apple-specified market price until the final months or even weeks before the release of the next year’s model.
This many vendors openly advertizing deals for cheaper iPhones doesn’t necessarily display a drop in demand for Apple products, as some might speculate. Flagship phones often enjoy deals like these to entice new or even existing users to sign a fresh contract. What it does suggest is that Apple’s power over the middle-men like Best Buy, Walmart and the major carriers is not what it once was.
With Apple apparently losing some of its “do as we tell you or else” mojo, we’re keen to see what kind of price comparisons will crop up in the future.
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