Rogers … What are you doing?

I am a self-admitted Apple fanboy and an early adopter. Each time the newest iPhone has been released, prior to the 4S, Rogers has made it a no-brainer to do an upgrade and extend my contract. I never minded extending to a full 36 months out each time just so that I could have the latest and greatest hardware.

This time around, they have decided to add in an additional “Early Upgrade” fee for those of us who have loyally upgraded to the newest hardware each time it has been released. For me, as well as all of us who are on the same upgrade schedule, this amounts to an enormous $340 charge over and above the cost of the new iPhone 4S, which is supposedly $209 for the 16GB version with the usual 36 month contract extension.

So now, to upgrade to the 4S, my cost would be $559+HST = $631.67 plus an extension to a 36 month contract. The cost to outright buy an unlocked iPhone 4S from the Apple Store is $649+HST= $733.37. Both of these options are a little too rich for my blood so it looks like I will skip this hardware generation entirely.

This leaves me in a position whereby the next generation iPhone will likely come out right at the end of my current 36 month contract. At that point, there is no longer anything tying me to Rogers and absolutely no reason for me to stay with Rogers for my next contract. This is an obvious short-sighted and short-term cash grab on the part of Rogers. For the first time ever, Rogers has put me in a position where I have a good reason to shop my plan around when the iPhone 5 comes out because I won’t be locked in to a long term contract that has a penalty.

I hope my other early adopter compatriots have the same realization that I have and see the greedy short-term nature of this business decision by Rogers.

EDIT: I BROKE DOWN AND BOUGHT AN UNLOCKED 4S AFTER ALL … SO GLAD THAT I DID … THE CAMERA IS AWESOME AND TOTALLY WORTH IT.