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The G1 went on sale in the United Kingdom slightly longer than a month ago but the price is already dropping, reports Pocket-Lint. Whereas scooping up a G1 would have been free with a £40 monthly contract up to now, lucky ‘Droiders now need only £30 to commit.
Here are a couple key quotes directly from T-Mobile representatives on the matter:
While industry sources suggest the £10 drop is in an attempt to “overcome fierce competition from other high-end devices”, T-Mobile insists that it’s not a reaction to poor sales.
A T-Mobile spokesperson told Mobile: “We have chosen to offer the device free with a £30 contract to make the pricing more competitive in light of recent device launches. We are well on track to achieve our sales forecasts”.
The price drop doesn’t surprise me too much: the G1 is a one-of-a-kind product right now and the more of a bargain they make it, the more people will flock to T-Mobile and despite trying economic times they should enjoy bumps in customer retention and customer acquisition because of the move.
Pocket Lint’s article comes with the sub-title “Early Adopters Shafted Again” which I thought was hilarious in a depressing kind of way. If you think getting a free G1 on contract is getting shafted in any way possible, come join us in the good old USA where you’ll need $179 of your capitalistic dollars PLUS contract to seal the deal! Early adopters often shoulder some disappointment but it comes with the territory. Apparently moreso when your territory is America.
So who from the UK does this either excite or bother?
UPDATE: From T-Mobile UK “If there are customers who bought the device before the price changes and feel that they had to opt for a higher price plan in order to get the T-Mobile G1 for free, they should contact our customer services, who can alter their price plan for them”. [Via Pocket-Lint again]
[Thanks Ben!]
I can’t complain, having received the G1 on its UK launch day i guess it’s to be expected that price decreases are gonna happen.
The only slightly annoying aspect is that T-Mobile UK are now giving out free 8GB memory cards… I think they should start dishing them out to early adopters too – that might help take the sting out :D
Thatbis totally unfair for us in the USA. They should be the same for all TMobile customers. Hopefully they will get enough flack for it and do the same here.
just to confirm t-mobile are refusing to change early adopters tariffs. they said no when I rang,lol
atleast i didnt get srewed as much as my U.S. friends.
To elv,
The t mo changed my price plan to £30 after my filing a compliant to its customer relationship dept
i reckon u just need to push them a bit harder and they will give in eventually
customer always win lol
For those that are complaining about getting shafted over in the usa you need to bare in mind that the system is completly different to that of the UK and europe. So what you need to do is force some change at your end. Or bare in mind that wee in the uk get shafted on every other for of electronics device so stop whineing and let us have so fun with our cheap phones