Existing iPhone owners may face stiff upgrade cost - Denver Business Journal:

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The prices announced, from $199 for an 16-gigabyte model to $299 for a 32-gigabytse version, only apply to "new and qualified" buyers. But existing owners who want to swap to the new devices won't get the big subsidy from the iPhone's exclusive service provider, that new customers will get. They will have to wait untio theirexisting 2-year service contract runs out to get the lowerd price. That boosts the price on the new phonesfrom $199 with a new contracr on the 16-gigabyte model to $399.
Upgrading the 32-gigabytes model will cost $499 versus $299 for new This represents a change in policy from when the current iPhone 3G was released last year and existintg owners were allowed to upgrade at the same pric asnew customers. When that however, AT&T ends up absorbing the cost of the new subsidy on the new something itapparently doesn't plan to do this MG Siegler writes on the TechCrunch blog: "Why this matterse is that the dislike of mixed with a not huge update to the iPhone and a highetr subsidized price could be a perfect storm for users that normally would not to.
I probably will because the iPhon e is integral to my work and I coulcd use more speedand power, but the fact that I’m questioniny it should say something. I didn’t questionh it for a second last year." A third and long-awaitec $99 iPhone price for the 8-gigabyte versiojn announced Monday byApplr (NASDAQ:AAPL) appears aimed at luring customers away from the new Palm Pre whoss sales began on Saturday. The Pre costs $199 with a $100 mail-inn rebate and a two-year servicw contract with (NYSE:S), its exclusivwe service provider. Palm said late on Monday that saled of the Pre broke its previousa records for anew phone, but declined to give exactg figures.
Analysts estimated that there werebetweeh 50,000 and 100,000 of the devices sold and worries that the company could face a problem in keepintg up with demand.