Apple's new iPhone comes with $199 price tag

Posted Jun 9th 2008 5:21PM by Michael Fowlkes
Filed under: International Markets, From the Boards, Press Releases, Products and Services, Launches, Consumer Experience, Conventions and Conferences, Competitive Strategy, Apple Inc (AAPL), Next Big Thing, iPhone, Smartphones

As expected, Apple announced today the launch of its next generation iPhone, and the new phone will come with a price tag that is $200 less than the current model. The new 3G iPhones are going to hit the market with a $199 price tag.

A big reason for the release of the the new iPhones is the desire by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to hit their goal of selling 10 million phones by the end of the year. The new phone will have faster Internet connection and satellite navigation capabilities. If you are like me, and have been postponing the purchase of a new phone in anticipation of today's announcement, you will have to wait a bit longer. The new phones will be available on July 11.

While the new phones will be about half the price of the current models, the monthly service plans will be a bit higher. Look for a $39.99 monthly plan, plus another $30 monthly fee for unlimited data. This works out to be about a $10 monthly increase, but considering the improvements of the new phones, not too bad of a deal if you ask me. Supposedly the new iPhones will be able to download data twice as fast as the current model.

The new phone will also be a bit sleeker than the current model, a reported eighth of an inch thinner, and will have a completely black case. The $199 phones will come with 8 GB of memory, and there will also be a 16 GB version hitting the market, and that will come with a $299 price tag.

Since the original iPhone hit the market about a year ago, the company has been able to sell around 6 million of the phones, and it is hoping that the launch of the next generation phone will help it realize its 10 million goal by years end.

So, still about a month to wait before you can own your own next generation iPhone, but at least we know for sure that they are coming, and they are coming soon!

Read more about the new iPhone over on Engadget.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.

Tags: AAPL, Apple, iPhone, iPhone 3G, Iphone3g, new iPhone, NewIphone, phones, smartphones, technology