[NewsPoster]

Hot on the heels of iPhone 5 promotions from T-Mobile and Verizon, AT&T appears to have thrown its hat into the ring with reports that existing, upgrade-eligible customers are being targeted in a new email. The email offers special trade-in pricing for used iPhone 4S models, promising up to $200 in credit towards the cost of an iPhone 5 -- effectively cancelling out the up-front cost of moving up. Appleinsider reports that the email may be only a regional promotion instead of national.

AT&T already has a trade-in program for smartphone models, but normally limits trade-in credit to $100. Thus far, the special offer for iPhone 4S customers is available only through email, with no mention of the promotion on the company's website. In the email, the fine print says that the offer doesn't include upgrade fees, and that the iPhone 4S must be "three years old or newer," suggesting that the ad was created from a template: the iPhone 4S was only introduced in late 2011.

[gprovida]

Am I missing something, I am unaware of such offers being made on Android of SAMSUNG Galaxy. It seems the desirable customers are overwhelming using iPhones and that making attractive offers to these as either new customers or up-graders is essential to grow and minimize churn.

In other words, where Apple competes on a "level" playing field through Service Providers the iPhone is a major draw and competitive advantage. Therefore, it would seem that as Apple extends its relationships to other providers e.g., China the opportunity for growth with most valuable customers Apple will be very successful against Android.

This seems reasonable given Apple continuing success and dominance with iPads without the constraint of the Service Providers.

[thoughtcrime]

I traded in my iPhone 4S (64 GB) on Wednesday, and received $210 as a trade in.