iPhone price drop
so the big surprise (for me) for today was the elimination of the 4gb iPhone and the $200 price cut on the 8gb iPhone from $600 to $400. i see it as a really aggressive move into the phone biz, but others take it as a sign of weak iPhone sales…which is curious, because everyone knows exactly how many iPhones are selling. in fact, SJ reiterated on stage today “we’re on track to sell our millionth iPhone by the end of September.” 1 million devices sold in 3 months is a lot. but apparently wall street is panicking – stock is down $7.40 today. a good time to buy, perhaps? this new iPod lineup is going to dominate this holiday…
and there’s news that the iPhone is already the bestselling smartphone:
IPhone outsells smartphones in July
Tue Sep 4, 2007 9:54AM EDT
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) iPhone outsold all smartphones in the United States in July, its first full month on sale, accounting for 1.8 percent of all U.S. mobile handset sales, research group iSuppli said on Tuesday.
ISuppli reiterated its forecast that Apple would sell 4.5 million iPhones this year, rising to more than 30 million in 2011.
The two models of the iPhone on the market sold more than Research in Motion’s (RIM.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) Blackberry series, the entire Palm (PALM.O: Quote, Profile, Research) portfolio and any individual smartphone model from Motorola (MOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research) or Samsung (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research).
Sales equaled those of LG Electronics’ (066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) Chocolate, the most popular feature phone on the U.S. market, iSuppli said.
ISuppli classifies the iPhone as a crossover phone that competes with both smartphones, which have personal computer-like functions such as e-mail, and feature phones, which have extras such as cameras and music players.
“While iSuppli has not collected historical information on this topic, it’s likely that the speed of the iPhone’s rise to competitive dominance in its segment is unprecedented in the history of the mobile-handset market,” iSuppli said.
“Apple achieved this in the face of numerous, well-entrenched competitors.”
Most buyers of iPhones in the United States in July were male, under 35 and had a college degree, iSuppli said.
A quarter of those who bought an iPhone switched to operator AT&T (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which has an exclusive service agreement for the iPhone in the United States.
The iPhone will go on sale in Europe later this year.
ISuppli gathered its data through a consumer survey of 2 million participants in the United States that it carries out online once a month.