In iPhone-Sales Tizzy, Price Cut Minimized

I'm going to back the moving van up here in advance of the anticipated flood of irate emails this Apple(AAPL Quote) column will inevitably generate.

But the "news" this week (yes, I smugly used scare quotes) that Apple has sold its millionth iPhone and the "conclusion" that this puts to bed worries about last week's enormous surprise price cut won't pass without me flaunting my own disagreement.

To review, Apple last week announced an alarming price cut, a big departure for a company that, unlike more common electronics peddlers, never really had to compete on price. Price cuts of course being the biggest long-term enemy there is of profits, not to mention high-end brand names.

Just as bad: The price cut caused its most loyal customers to rebel, made Steve Jobs rush out an apology and store credit to make amends and called into question whether Apple had tarnished its vaunted mojo going forward. The next time it releases a product to great fanfare, will people for the first time say: "I'm not going to rush and be a chump. They'll cut the price by a third in a few weeks."

Anyhow, along the way during this most messy week, Steve Jobs was forced to declare that, yes, Apple would make its goal of selling a million iPhones by the end of September.

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