New details today on Apple's (AAPL) iPhone pricing and U.S. launch, as well as a bullish report from Bernstein's Toni Sacconaghi, once an iPhone skeptic. The iPhone 3G will go on sale at AT&T stores beginning at 8 a.m. local time on Friday, July 11 -- meaning anyone who wants to wait in line this time will probably be there overnight. (Not sure when Apple stores will open that day.) That $199 price tag? Not for everyone, AT&T said today . We've known for a while that only "qualified" customers will get the lowest subsidized rates. Those include new AT&T subscribers, previous iPhone buyers, or AT&T customers eligible for an upgrade discount. What we didn't know: How much AT&T will charge subscribers who don't qualify: $399 for an 8-gigabyte iPhone and $499 for a 16-gig model -- $200 more. "In the future," AT&T will also offer a no-contract option for $599 (8-gig) and $699 (16-gig). These figures lend credibility to analysts' estimates that AT&T will be subsidizing the phones around $300 -- and AT&T's warning on June 9 that those subsidies will hit profits. Monthly service fees begin at $70 and range up to $130 . AT&T (T) also does a nice job screwing its customers by not offering any texting plans between $5/month (200 messages) and $15/month (1500 messages). (The good news: We expect a handful of iPhone instant messaging apps to reduce reliance on overpriced text messages -- unlimited Internet access is included in all iPhone plans ...
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New details today on Apple's (AAPL) iPhone pricing and U.S. launch, as well as a bullish report from Bernstein's Toni Sacconaghi, once an iPhone skeptic. The iPhone 3G will go on sale at AT&T stores beginning at 8 a.m. local time on Friday, July 11 -- meaning anyone who wants to wait in line this time will probably be there overnight. (Not sure when Apple stores will open that day.) That $199 price tag? Not for everyone, AT&T said today . We've known for a while that only "qualified" customers will get the lowest subsidized rates. Those include new AT&T subscribers, previous iPhone buyers, or AT&T customers eligible for an upgrade discount. What we didn't know: How much AT&T will charge subscribers who don't qualify: $399 for an 8-gigabyte iPhone and $499 for a 16-gig model -- $200 more. "In the future," AT&T will also offer a no-contract option for $599 (8-gig) and $699 (16-gig). These figures lend credibility to analysts' estimates that AT&T will be subsidizing the phones around $300 -- and AT&T's warning on June 9 that those subsidies will hit profits. Monthly service fees begin at $70 and range up to $130 . AT&T (T) also does a nice job screwing its customers by not offering any texting plans between $5/month (200 messages) and $15/month (1500 messages). (The good news: We expect a handful of iPhone instant messaging apps to reduce reliance on overpriced text messages -- unlimited Internet access is included in all iPhone plans ...