At $299, my box included a 4GB iPhone, headphones, power adapter, and an iPhone Dock. The 3G iPhone does not include a dock, which can be purchased for an additional $30.
The cost of upgrading to a 3G iPhone appears to have a lot of hidden costs associated with it:
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+$30 for iPhone 3G Dock
+$5 a month for 200 Text Messages (+$120 over the length of the 2 year contract)
+$10 a month for 3G Service (+$240 over the 2 year contract)
+ $18 upgrade fee (if you are upgrade eligible)
+ ($100 if you are not upgrade eligible)
Keep in mind that previously, the monthly fee for AT&T in the US was $59.95 with 200 Text Messages and Unlimited EDGE data. This amounted to an additional $20 fee over AT&T's lowest cost service, but for the same amount of messages and data on a 3G plan, the cost is actually $74.99, making the iPhone premium $35 for those who were not already iPhone owners.
Last year when the iPhone arrived, the calculations for the cost of ownership over the length of the 2 year contract totaled $1440 for monthly service fees, along with the cost of the iPhone ($599, $499, $399, or $299 depending on when it was purchased and with what capacity), bracketing the total cost of ownership from $1739 ($299 iPhone 4GB with standard plan) to $2039 (8GB iPhone with standard plan purchased early at $599) or $1939 if the $100 coupon for the Apple store for early adopters is taken into account). An iPhone 3G this year will cost $1680 for monthly service (without 200 messages) and $1800 (with 200 messages). Adding in the dock ($30), and the iPhone ($199 or $299), yields a total cost of of $2029 (8GB iPhone 3G + Dock + 200 messages) to $2129 (16GB iPhone 3G + Dock + 200 messages).
Those who balked at the $499 and $599 initial prices of the original iPhone should still be balking at paying $199 or $299 for the iPhone 3G as the true cost of the iPhone 3G is almost exactly the same as the original iPhone (there's a $10 difference between the 8GB iPhone 3G and the original $599 8GB iPhone -- however, if the $100 Apple coupon for early adopters is taken into account, the original 8GB iPhone winds up being $90 dollars cheaper than the 8GB iPhone 3G. Interestingly enough, many people do not realize the price difference is only $10, and as a result, the demand for the iPhone 3G is even greater than the original iPhone. Those who purchased an iPhone at the $200 discounted price are even better off, as they essentially wind up with iPhones costing $190 less than the equivalent-sized iPhone 3G.
Taking into account the upgrade costs of $607 and $707 for original iPhone owners, it seems like an expensive upgrade for 3G data and GPS (and possibly more data storage space). This amounts to roughly $25 and $30 a month more for 3G capabilities -- those who need the speed will pay for it, but for all other owners of the original iPhone, I think it's likely they won't be surrendering them anytime soon.
One of the things that I see happening is that as users upgrade to the iPhone 3G, their older iPhone is resold back on the market as either an unlocked iPhone or as a iPhone that could be resubscribed to AT&T at the original data plan. With AT&T claiming that they will sell iPhones without a commitment plan at $599 (8GB iPhone 3G) and $699 (16GB iPhone 3G), there is a substantial resale value for secondhand iPhones which may end up as yet another AT&T subscriber. Currently, even used iPhones may be resold for more than their original sales price -- a look at eBay reveals several unlocked 16GB iPhones which have fetched $1000 or more, nearly $400 over the original price.
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