No One Wants To Save $1000 By Buying A Virgin Mobile iPhone

No One Wants To Save $1000 By Buying A Virgin Mobile iPhone

We’ve gone on record saying that getting your next iPhone through Virgin Mobile is the smartest and most value-conscious decision you can make when it comes to choosing carriers. In fact, over two years, you can save well over $1000 by choosing Virgin Mobile to be your iPhone carrier-of-choice over the likes of Verizon or AT&T.

There’s just one catch: you have to pony up $649 up front for the full, unsubsidized price of an iPhone 4S. And unfortunately, that large initial expenditure seems to have been enough to keep customers away, at least on launch day.

After launching the iPhone on their network on June 30th, analysts are saying first day sales were sort of a fizzle.

Virgin opened its first branded retail stores in Chicago to capitalize on the launch, and also sold the phone through RadioShack and Best Buy. According to checks by BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk, there were no lines at eight RadioShack and Best Buy locations in New York City and San Francisco.

The situation doesn’t seem to have been helped by the fact that Virgin Mobile sales staff locations didn’t really advertise the iPhone, and the sales staff seemed ambivalent, feeling few of Virgin’s customers would actually buy the device.

It’s too bad, because for an initial upfront fee, the Virgin Mobile iPhone is simply the best deal going right now. Unfortunately, some people can’t see past that initial sticker shock… and Virgin Mobile’s not doing a good job about advertising the fact.

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About the author

John BrownleeJohn Brownlee is Cult of Mac's Deputy Editor. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his girlfriend and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.

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