Apple Trinity Sued over iPhone Price Cut

Steve Martinez
The suit, filed September 22 in Queens, New York, accuses Apple, Steve Jobs, and AT&T of discrimination by price, rebates, underselling, and deceptive actions.









Dongmei Li, the Plaintiff, was one of the many who waited in line on opening day to purchase an iPhone. Although she was going for the 8GB model, when she made it to the checkout line the 4GB was the only model still available. She claims she's the victim of price discrimination since she's unable to resell her iPhone for profit, given the recent price drop. Also, since the model she owns is being discontinued, it resale value has plummeted.

Additionally, she feels cheated since the $200 price drop that recent buyers received eclipses the $100 store credit her first purchase merited.

Says Li's attorney, Jean Wang of Wang Law Offices, "iPhone was selling very well because Apple's stocks were increasing since August 16, 2007 and rose as high as $144.16 on September 4, 2007, the day before Apple announced that it was cutting the price of iPhone."

They're claiming this is proof of "underselling", since there was no sound reason for the price cut to being with.

The lawsuit accuses AT&T as well, forcing customers into a 2-year service agreement with $175 early termination fees. Li believes this is unfair, given that users have been able to unlock their iPhones to use with other networks. However. given the recent iPhone firmware update, this argument has taken a backseat to the other issues.

Li is requesting compensatory damages of $1 million, as well as punitive damages to be determined at the trial.
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