AT&T cuts price of iPad 3G by $100
AT&T on Friday slashed the price of the original iPad 3G by $100 throughout its U.S. retail stores. — The iPad 3G now costs $429, $529 and $629 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively. Yesterday, the iPad 3G cost $100 more and last month it cost $200 more for the iPad 3G models.
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the second $100 cut to the original iPad 3G within a month — AT&T took $200 off over February and March alone, landing at $429/$529/$629 for the 16/32/64GB tiers. The move sits alongside February's 50%-off accessory clearance at AT&T corporate stores, which read at the time as channel prep for the then-rumored iPad 2.
The pattern has precedent in the carrier-Apple relationship: the 2008 iPhone 3G repricing fight showed how quickly carrier-channel prices move when a successor looms. What is different here is that AT&T, not Apple, owns the markdown — the carrier is using its U.S. retail footprint to flush first-generation cellular iPads.
First-order effects
- U.S. shoppers can buy the original iPad 3G at $429–$629 through AT&T stores, a $200 discount versus January pricing, with the 16GB model now undercutting where the entry tier sat when the device launched.
- AT&T converts slow-moving first-gen inventory into cash ahead of the iPad 2 rollout, while accepting margin compression on hardware it presumably subsidizes against 3G data-plan attach.
Second-order effects
- Other retailers still holding original iPad 3G stock face a price floor set by the carrier channel, forcing matching cuts or stale inventory once the iPad 2 lands.
- Resale values for used first-gen iPads compress as a new-unit price anchor drops, squeezing secondary-market sellers and trade-in programs.
Third-order effects
- If carrier storefronts keep functioning as the clearance valve for superseded Apple hardware, carriers entrench themselves as discount distribution rather than premium channels — echoing the dynamic from Apple's own 2008 iPhone price drop, where rapid repricing became a recurring feature of the smartphone cycle rather than an anomaly.
The trend: Carrier retail channels are becoming the fast-follow discount outlet for outgoing Apple devices, with successive price cuts tracking each successor launch.