Friday, October 21, 2011

Free iPhone 3GS Could Be AT&T's Savior and Secret Weapon - Even They Were Surprised

The iPhone 3GS is more than two years old.  And yet, it continues to wreck havoc on the mobile landscape.  And now, with the iPhone 3GS free with a two-year contract, it is apparently selling so well that AT&T is out of stock.


According to AT&T during its financial call, “we have another device that I think is going to dramatically change those people that are on smartphones and quick messaging devices, the [iPhone] 3GS, which is free with a 2-year contract. We’ve seen a tremendous, tremendous demand for that device even though it’s a generation old. And actually, we’re getting more new subscribers coming on the 3GS on the average than other devices. So we also have an inventory sold out on that device.”

Yup, out of stock.  And get this.  The iPhone 4 and the 3GS were responsible for more than 56% of AT&T's activations in the last quarter - a quarter that Apple has said which the sales of iPhone were affected by the rumors of pending upgrade from Apple.

That was at a time when the 3GS was still $99.  It was not until last week that the 3GS went free.

I don't know just how big of a quarter that Apple thinks it'll have this Christmas.  The 3GS maybe 28 months old, it bought off the Palm Pre, dozens of Android devices (some made to look like the 3GS to confuse customers), start the slow downfall of the Blackberries, and kept Windows Phone with a couple of percentage of marketshare.

Apple decide its tenure isn't over yet. And why would Apple retire it?  The 3GS does not have the most impressive specs anymore.  But when it comes to providing actual mobile computing experience, it still has a lot to offer.

The iPhone 3GS is capable of running the iOS 5.  Obviously, it won't run all of the new iOS 5 features but it will benefit from some of the iOS 5 improvements.  My question is will it be able to run iOS 6?

And what new features can it continue to benefit from future iOS upgrades? However, judging by the folks who are buying the 3GS, I'm not sure they care to have all the latest and coolest bells and whistles.  They now have an iPhone.

And as Steve Jobs once said "It's like giving a glass of ice water to someone in hell".

Via Cult of Mac,

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