iPhone with huge margins

I ranted about the iphone a litte bit in the last few days. While I have to stand corrected about the speaker problem, which is not a problem, there are still some things that just do not make the phone the perfect phone for me. I still want one obviously, but … I … can … keep … myself from buying one. Especially as the roaming charges would be huge living in Germany ;) There are rumors that a 3G version will come out for Europe and if they add a bluetooth modem capability, then I am starting to be sold.

The biggest new that came in now is that has a cost of $265 per 8GB iPhone. The 8GB version sells for $599. As Bloomberg is reporting they are also sold out in most Apple stores and almost all AT&T stores. The phone sold higher numbers in the first 3 days than the Motorola Razr (of course that only took of later) in the first month. Not bad ey? Now add one simple thing. You get a 2 year contract with the phone because it is subsidized by AT&T. I do not know how much but would presume $150–300, maybe even more. With the contract prices being high, I can even see them adding $400 to the deal. Add a few royalties Apple needs to pay to have the phone at $350 and they still make well over 50% margin. Bloomberg actually says over 55%. If they don’t need too much royalties it might even be a 70/30 split.

The thing is that the first adopters will buy it no matter what. It will be interesting to see if the run on the phone keeps up. The first few days/weeks are always good for Apple. Let’s see how it goes. I for one am happy about my Apple stock :)

Update: Â Paul has a great link to a very short review:

_ Looking at the iPhone as an alpha, it’s a heck of a feat. Gorgeous. Groundbreaking. Full of promise and a lot of delivery. Unfortunately, we’re paying for a full-release version._