“The mobile-phone supply chain is a highly complex machine with countless moving parts, including phone makers, component suppliers, telecom carriers, government agencies and infinitely fickle consumers. Well, Apple just blew the whole damn thing up with its new iPhone,” Michael Comeau writes for RealMoney.com.
Comeau writes, “In terms of style, the iPhone is the most impressive consumer electronics product I’ve seen in some time. With its big touch screen, innovative keyless interface, decent storage capabilities and OS X operating system, there is simply nothing like it on the market. I mean, just take a look at this thing.”
“It isn’t cheap at $499 or more for a two-year contract with Cingular, but that doesn’t matter now because of the huge pent-up demand. Let’s not forget, Palm has introduced past Treo smartphone models in the same price range, so it’s not a stretch for Apple to do so, especially considering the rich feature set,” Comeau writes. “The iPhone is a fantastic strategic move by Apple. When everyone targeted the original iPod and the iPod Mini, Apple killed them and put out the Nano and the video iPod. Then everyone targeted the Nano and the video iPod, and phonemakers such as Sony-Ericcson and LG cranked out music-enabled phones to benefit from the digital-music boom driven by Apple. So Apple drops the iPhone on them.”
Comeau writes, “And let’s not forget that Microsoft, which tried to kill the iPod with the ill-fated Zune, now has a new mark in the iPhone. Apple is a moving target of the deadliest kind… This phone will stand out in any phone store, and there is now yet another reason for countless consumers to wander into an Apple store, where they just might also walk out with a Mac.”
Comeau writes, “The major phone makers are now in even more serious trouble. Motorola’s recent guidance cut was the result of weak pricing, as unit growth is being driven by low-cost models favored by emerging markets. However, now Motorola and the other phone makers have a major new competitor in the higher-priced developing markets, one that is poised to take market share as quickly as it can produce its models.”
Comeau writes, “I would definitely think twice about holding the stock of any other mobile-phone company… I believe that the success of Apple’s phone initiatives has the potential to dwarf that of the iPod and represents an annual revenue opportunity literally in the tens of billions of dollars.”
Full article here.
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