Walmart has announced that it will start selling the 16GB version of the iPhone 3GS for $97 with a two year contract with AT&T. Apple is due to announce the next generation iPhone on June 7th 2010 at their World Wide Developers Conference.
Currently the iPhone 3G, which was launched in 2008 is the budget version of the iPhone, we suspect Apple will stop selling the iPhone 3G when the new model launches and the iPhone 3GS will become the budget model.
This makes sense for Apple as the iPhone 3G won’t run all the features of iPhone OS 4.0, whilst the iPhone 3GS will and Apple would want all new devices sold to use the iPhone OS 4.0.
This strategy has worked for them in the past, as they have sold the iPhone 3G along with the iPhone 3GS over the past year, meaning they are getting two years of sale out of each iPhone model as opposed to one.
It also lets them offer a version of the iPhone at a cheaper price, gaining more customers who maybe wouldn’t pay so much for the more expensive version of the iPhone.
When Apple start selling the iPhone 4G, we can expect it to be sold alongside the iPhone 3GS, $97 for an iPhone 3GS is a pretty good deal, although we would recommend waiting until June the 7th to see what Apple announce.
CNN via Apple Insider
Update: Walmart will start selling the iPhone 3GS for $97 from Tuesday 25th May 2010.
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