[belfastdispatcher]

Just had a chat with a client that just bought the iphone 4 cuz his last one was stolen. He was telling me about insurance (which he didn't take again): �15.00 a months and �200.00 excess? Are you guys crazy?

Top of the line blackberry insurance is just �3.50 a month with no excess on vodafone uk and as far as I can remember it was included for free in all orange business contracts, again, no excess.

How is iphone 4 ever gonna make it in the business world?

Sorry but I just can't believe how much you guys get ripped off.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Entertainment72]

If you used it in the business world wouldn't the business pay to insure it or at least replace it? There are many features as well to help recover or wipe the phone entirely. With MobileMe and Exchange all your information instantly appears on the new phone anyways, so you can remote wipe, lock and reload your new iPhone in minutes.
I personally use MobileMe and consider it to now be a must have service if you own an iPhone and Mac. Push Email, Contacts, Calendar, Remote Wipe, Remote Messaging system, GPS locator,Remote Lock, Cloud Storage (20gb), Outlook sync I mean it goes on and on for as little as $30 a year.
Go ahead and steal it, no problem.

[Teek]

I've never purchased insurance for any phone. And luckily I've never needed.
I do have mobile me tho.

No i am not crazy and I have never been ripped off by apple and when I'm not happy with a purchase, I just return it.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[belfastdispatcher]

It's not apple that's ripping you off, it's the carriers. Mobileme is a lot more expensive on this side of the pond as far as I can remember. And it's not about the data you might lose, it's the hardware, how can they charge you so much? I would be quite annoyed, I've already had to replace my handset about 4 times thankfully just for �3.50 a month

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[scorpiodsu]

It's going to be hard to find a low cost coverage for the iPhone that also covers theft. It's like insuring your car. There a difference in price when trying to insure a Chevy Malibu and insuring a Lexus GS300. Some devices just cost more to cover because they are more likely to be targeted and cost more to replace. Do I agree with it? Of course not, but it is what it is.

[Duvi]

The iPhone 4 will make it just fine in the business world. It's
actually the consumer side that may not pay that much for
coverage. Notice how much the BlackBerry 88xx has been
since launch? That's because most businesses are the ones
getting this device and that is the reason wireless carriers
charge so much for it even though it's been out for a few
years now.

[Username00089]

There are all kinds of 3rd party insurers that probably do business accounts with
multiple phones.

[avt123]

The iPhone insurance is more money because the iPhone most likely has a higher rate of theft. Also, the resale value on iPhones are MUCH higher than ANY BB out there. The device is worth more.

[Roo Zilla]

The iPhone insurance is more money because the iPhone most likely has a higher rate of theft. Also, the resale value on iPhones are MUCH higher than ANY BB out there. The device is worth more.

Both these reasons explain the reason for the high cost of insurance compared to other phones. The reason for the high cost of the deductible is because of moral hazard. Because you can get so much for an iPhone ($700 easy), there's a lot of incentive for people to cheat. It's like people who set their houses on fire to collect the insurance money.

[belfastdispatcher]

It sounds crazy to me, you can get a 9700 in UK for free on plans starting at �15:00 a month, that would only cover the insurance on an iphone 4.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[djransom]

I just cancelled my insurance last month for my i4. I wasn't about to continually pay $12 a month for insurance.

[Moonbase0ne]

There are cheaper insurance plans with good ratings here in the US.

I plan on adding it to my iP4 if I decide to keep it after the 30 days.

Just because ATT. Wants you to pay $11.00/month plus a $199.00 deductible for a refurbished phone doesn't mean you have to if you want decent insurance.

And yes, there's also other companies that cover lost/theft.

[scorpiodsu]

It sounds crazy to me, you can get a 9700 in UK for free on plans starting at �15:00 a month, that would only cover the insurance on an iphone 4.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Yes just like it's crazy to me that the collision coverage on my Lexus is 321 every months and it's only 180 on my wife's Honda. Why? Because my car costs more to replace/repair. Same thing with the iPhone. It costs a lot to replace because you have to get them from Apple and Apple doesn't just give away devices. This is why you'll almost never see an iPhone on sale unless it's refurbished or they permanently lowered the price because of a new model. You won't see buy 1 get 1 free like blackberries. Or get them for free on sites like Wirefly where blackberries are a dime a dozen. It sucks, but that's how it is and it shouldn't seem so crazy when you're dealing with a product that's considered to be "premuim".

[belfastdispatcher]

It makes me think Rim and Apple are not really in competition with each other, different prices, different market. Like comparing Ford with BMW.

[scorpiodsu]

It makes me think Rim and Apple are not really in competition with each other, different prices, different market. Like comparing Ford with BMW.

They are competitors but each platform has it's strengths and weaknesses that attract consumers. We all know the strength of blackberries as a business device and I believe a few years ago it inadvertently became a good consumer device. People started buying them for personal use and back then there was no iPhone or Android so blackberries were not only a good business device but a good consumer device. But Apple came in and took the things that most general consumers like and make it easier to use and marketed it like crazy. So all those consumers who bought blackberries as personal device because there was no alternative now saw the iPhone and then so on with Android. So now they are all fighting for the same customers because Apple wants to make the iPhone a premier business device as well and many companies are slowly adopting it.

We can also see some of the changes that RIM has made to make their device more attractive to general consumers. I think now more than ever, people want a device that they can get business done with as well as have fun which starts to blur the line between the business consumer and the general consumer.

Although each platform has it's own niche, make no mistake about it, they want each other's customers. When you watch a Ford commercial they also compare themselves to Acura or Lexus even though it seems like they are trying to reach different customers. Truthfully, if they can get people to think that their product can do the same thing (or even better) than a more expensive product then they will. Same thing with blackberry. When the tiered data was introduced there were loads of articles about how RIM now benefits from this because of compressed data. So now a person can get everything accomplished on a $15 plan that costs them $30 for an iPhone.