Shops retain older iPhone's price despite Apple discount

The iPhone 4S should be cheaper with the iPhone 5 in the shops on Friday. Photo / AP

Major electronics retailers are continuing to sell an old iPhone model for their old price, despite Apple dropping the recommended retail price by $150.

Some, however, are selling it for less than the discounted price - a potential saving of more than $200.

Two weeks ago, Apple announced the new iPhone 5, and at the weekend it dropped the price of the old model from $1049 to $899 to anticipate a drop in interest when the latest model is released on Friday. But Harvey Norman, Digital Mobile, Bond & Bond and Noel Leeming were yesterday all still selling the iPhone 4S for $1049.

A spokesman for the Noel Leeming Group, which also owns Bond & Bond, said Apple was still selling the iPhone 4S to it for the old price.

But it was anticipating a drop in a "matter of days". The spokesman said all the stores were still getting them at the same cost price.

Consumer magazine editor David Naulls said this was an example of how important it was to shop around before buying electronics.

"We always recommend that you look around at three or even four vendors before buying something, just because it can vary so much."

Mr Naulls said shoppers should also know that it was common to barter in electronics stores to get better deals.

Websites like pricespy.co.nz were valuable tools to find out what products were being sold for what price and at which store, he added.

Price comparison

* Challenge Mobiles $835
* Mobile Station $839
* Parallel Imported $994
* Dick Smith $1019
* Vodafone $1049
* Digital Mobile $1049
* Harvey Norman $1049
* Bond & Bond $1049
* Apple's online price $899.