“The amazing Apple hype machine soon could help Sprint Nextel Corp. sell bunches of music-playing wireless phones,” Jason Gertzen reports for The Kansas City Star. “The debut of the much-heralded iPhone is thought to be imminent, though Apple and AT&T Inc. executives remain mum on the exact timing.”
“Apple, which is making the device, and AT&T, which is providing the wireless network for the iPhone, both are positioned to be the prime beneficiaries of the new high-tech product. But other companies, such as Verizon Wireless and Overland Park-based Sprint, also are likely to reap the rewards of new business as consumer attention increasingly turns to handheld portable stereos that also can make calls,” Gertzen reports.
Gertzen reports, “Apple and AT&T executives have substantial aspirations for iPhone sales. Jobs set a target of selling 10 million by the end of 2008. The iPhone will be sold through Apple and AT&T retail stores and online. ‘It is probably the most anticipated phone in living memory,’ said Roger Entner, a wireless industry maven who is a senior vice president with New York-based IAG Research.”
Gertzen reports, “The announced $500 and $600 prices of the iPhone have raised questions about whether it will appeal to a broad swath of consumers… Despite this factor, Entner said, the iPhone is likely to enjoy success. He also expects to see a ‘ruboff effect’ benefiting multiple companies offering music services.”
“’The Apple phone is being positioned as the Rolls-Royces or Ferraris of all phones,’ Entner said. Not everyone, of course, can afford such a pricey model,” Gertzen reports. “‘You go to the Ferrari dealership and ogle the Ferrari, but then you go buy a Pontiac,’ Entner said.”
Full article here.
If Apple/ATT did offer a contract signing incentive such as a $200 reduction in price, would not Apple receive even more world domination?
I can afford the price tag. But I know that the majority of my friends #1 can not cough up an early contract termination fee. #2 a $500 to $600 price tag #3 the cost of going with ATT. Certainly, this phone is going to fly off the shelves. I am no business expert but for me the layman idiot. It seems to me an incentive of any kind would further the success.
I don’t know where this “Ferarri = get laid” thing comes from. Have you ever seen a Ferarri driver? Mid-life crisis. Hair plugs. Bad plastic surgery. Knobby knees. Dentures. Viagra connection.
>The only reason Microsoft has gained what little market share they have in the American smartphone sector is because of those things (Blackjack, Q, Dash) being $99 subsidized on 2yr contracts.>
So buy it on time for $20, then pay it back over two years.
Me? I have cash.
My 1G 10gig ipod, which I paid $500.00 for just weeks before the 20gig model was introduced & the price of mine was dropped $100.00, FINALLY gave up the ghost!!! ( Probably the battery, probably repairable.) YES the price of the iphone (either size) is not a small piece of change, but the VALUE for the money… need I go on? I’m dusting off an old portable CD player & digging out a 30 CD case to throw in the back seat so i can carry around a selection of my 1000+ CD’s for another month
“hype” is what we get from MicroSoft you doofus excuse for a reporter.
@R2
Who is it you work for. Microsoft, Nokia, Sony Ericcson, LG or Samsung? You certainly spout lots of FUD! And under different names!
Lots of FUD? Please point out any corrections to my statements that you feel are necessary.
Guess not, bitch.
8R, keep your mouth shut in my presence unless you’re opening it to lick my sweet Irish balls.