Today, Apple announced the 8GB iPhone would be discounted from $599USD to $399 and quietly did away with the 4GB model. 

This all seems very curious to me.  I'm not a marketer nor do I play one on TV, but the product was released 70 days ago; 68 to be exact.  A discount of $200 over 68 days equates a real depretiation of $2.941/day.  As long as I can remember, experts have been telling me that automobiles are the worst products at holding their value*, depreciating 20% within the first calendar year, but 33% in nearly two months?  Wow.

[*In my opinion, notebook computers are the worst consumer product at holding value.  I've never owned a notebook that holds any worth after 3 years.  Thus, that would be a depreciation rate of 33%/year, but I've never seen any offical studies on the matter.]

So this all leads me to wonder aloud about a few things:

• Did the 4GB iPhone model not sell enough to continue in a lineup?
• Did the 8GB iPhone not move fast enough at $599?
• Most importantly, will this affect future Apple-branded product launches?

I cannot think of another Apple product that has been deeply discounted so close to its initial launch.  Although the iPod got bigger and better, its best-available-product price has always hovered around the same range, ~$300. 

I'm baffled.  Privately, I'm having a sublime moment of schadenfreude thinking of all of the jackasses that waited in line for the iPhone.  I'm also feeling very sorry for the whole lot; price protection plans on major credit cards run out 60 days after the purchase.

[Update 9/7: Gizmodo is reporting that American Express is honoring price protection for 90 days, even though it isn't "usually covered under their plan." Note to self: use AMEX in Apple store.]