UPDATE: Apple Angers, Offers $100 To Old iPhoners

UPDATE: Looks like Apple heard the anger loud and clear. Jobs announced today that all iPhone owners will be offered a $100 gift certificate for the Apple Store (online or offline). Is it enough to make amends? You be the judge.

I didn't think it was possible, but Apple has finally managed to get everyone mad at it, even long-time Apple loyalists. Some might say, especially the loyalists. Why? Because of Apple's 11th hour announcement at the very end of its press conference yesterday that it was cutting the price of the iPhone from $599 to $399.

Mad, about a price cut? You would be too if you'd shelled out 600 bucks on launch day, only to have the price drop by a third after a mere two months.

While electronics prices are well-known for their constant downward spiral, a price cut of this magnitude, this soon after the original release of the product, is unprecedented. Steve Jobs tried to spin the cut in an otherwise content-free USA Today interview, saying "Well, that's what happens in technology." But he failed to explain how the company either managed to achieve such radical cost improvements in just 60 days... or whether the company was just going to be trimming the vast profit margin it's been getting on the It Phone of 2007. I suspect it's the latter... and I don't really blame Jobs for not admitting that publicly.

Consumer reaction has been largely one of outrage, with complaints from people that they've been ripped off for being the first to jump on the iPhone bandwagon. While they might eventually forgive Jobs, Wall Street has not. Apple stock was down over 6 percent yesterday and, as I write this, is down another 2 percent.

So why did Apple, a company not known for trimming prices, cut the price of the iPhone? (Many, myself included, were expecting the price to stay the same until iPhone 2 launches, with this model then being discontinued.) The rationale appears to be a simple attempt to grab market share, no matter what it costs. But those tactics are strange for Apple, a company that has always been happy to sit back, charge a premium for its products, and skim the wealthiest customers out of the pool. Competing on price has never been in the Apple playbook... but perhaps the reality of how intense the competition in the cell phone market is has finally dawned on the company: The intensely competitive cell phone business just isn't the same as the unchallenging MP3 player industry.

Did you buy an iPhone before the price drop? Remember that if you purchased it in the last two weeks from AT&T or the Apple store, you can get a refund of the price difference from the store. Your credit card company might also offer price guarantees; check with your issuer. TUAW has additional suggestions... or you can just vent. Tell us, in the spirit of this online therapy session: How does that make you feel?