As many cheered the $200 drop in the price of an 8 GB iPhone, others who paid $599 for the much-hyped device had a much different reaction. Several Web sites, including some of Apple’s own user forums, exploded with messages throughout yesterday afternoon and evening claiming that the cut had come too soon. Those most upset said they felt betrayed by a company to which they had been faithful customers for many years. Demands for a $200 refund were common, and a few went so far as to call for Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ resignation.

Meanwhile on Wall Street, investors whacked 5 percent off AAPL’s share price, apparently surmising the price reduction not only would hurt margins but also indicated lagging iPhone sales. Although Jobs said the company was on track to sell its 1 millionth phone by the end of September, cutting the price of the year’s hottest tech device by a third 10 weeks after it went on sale was bound to spook people.

As I followed Jobs presentation yesterday my reaction to the iPhone price cuts was that it was a good thing; at the new more affordable price Apple would sell a ton of them through the holiday buying season. But then, I didn’t buy one.

I can understand why people who paid a premium price are upset. But that is the way of the consumer technology world. New products are introduced at ridiculously high prices. After the wave of early adopters willing to pay that price dries up, the price drops to catch the next group. Does anybody remember what HDTVs cost a few years ago?

And the cell phone industry carries this practice to great extremes. The Motorola RAZR cost $500 when introduced in 2004 and now is virtually given away with cellular service plans.

People need to realize that Apple has ventured into new territory with the iPhone. Allowing prices to stand for six months to a year, as Apple historically has done with its Mac and iPod product lines, was a model doomed to fail in the fiercely competitive cell phone market. Apple loyalists lining up to buy the iPhone that first weekend had this history in mind, but failed to consider how the product would fare in the market after the initial rush. Even Apple couldn’t be certain how it would play out.

I suspect Apple purposely set the price of the iPhone higher than necessary to see what the market would bear. While there has been evidence that the iPhone has continued to sell respectably (see my Tuesday post), perhaps internal numbers were showing a steady decline. Rather than wait a few months, risking slumping sales numbers and sacrificing momentum generated by months of hype, Apple decided to take action.

Note that the shock isn’t over the price cut itself, but that it dropped so much so quickly. Here again this most likely stems from Apple feeling its way in an unfamiliar market. Maybe Apple executives had banked on the iPhone changing the rules of the cellular market so much they’d be able to charge a premium price for it for a longer period. In any event, if a plan ever existed to lower the price more gradually, it went out the window.

Jobs spun the cut as an “aggressive” move to put more iPhones in Christmas stockings. Sure enough, Apple will sell more iPhones at $399 this fall than it would have at $599. The move can be seen as a defensive one, ensuring the iPhone captures more market share -- a fundamental measure of its success. Don’t think Jobs has forgotten what critics said when he introduced the device in January: that the cellular market was out of Apple’s league, that Apple couldn’t compete with established manufacturers like Nokia, Samsung and Motorola.

Jobs is determined to prove them all wrong, and if that means a dramatic price cut that knocks a few noses out of joint, then so be it. Jobs has devoted too much of Apple’s resources to the iPhone to play his hand conservatively now.