¡§Depending on whom you ask, the iPhone is either the greatest electronic device to grace the planet or an overpriced, over hyped status gadget sold to rubes with more credit than sense,¡¨ says Arik Hesseldahl of Business Week Online. Whether or not one sees Apple¡¦s iPhone as flawless or a flop, it is a device that demands our attention not only for its unprecedented features but from a marketing stand point as well. Whether it is seen as a success or a failure, it is undeniable that Apple has forever changed the wireless industry.
The iPhone
What were once obscure rumors has now become the Apple iPhone. The iPhone was born out of the U.S.¡¦s love for Apple and their iPod along with a passion for new and exciting technologies.
Some industry analysts projected first-weekend iPhone sales to be as high as 700,000 units. AT&T¡¦s actual sales were so disappointing that it sent Apple¡¦s shares down more than 6%. Initial sales also disappointed most of Apple¡¦s investors since they were so fewer than touted expectations. Reports through the end of August 2007 showed ¡§Apple¡¦s popular iPhone outsold all other smartphones in July, accounting for 1.8 percent of total mobile handset sales,¡¨ according to iSuppli. ¡§It has outsold the Blackberry series, Palm handhelds and all other models from a branded service provider.¡¨ After this news was released, Apple¡¦s stock price rose to $144.16. Nonetheless, Apple cut the price of the 8GB iPhone to $399 and de-listed the 4GB version after just two months. One reason for this decision is that the new iPod Touch, which looks extremely similar to the iPhone but without phone capabilities, sells at only $299 and has higher capacity (8GB/16GB). Consequently, the stock price went down again on September 7, 2007 to $131.77. On September 10, Apple announced that they had solved over 1 million iPhone units. At this time, the stock price recovered to $136.71. Anton Shilov of X-Bit Laboratories, until October 25, 2007 Apple imposed ¡§numerous restrictions of iPhone sales.¡¨ After November 1, Anton reported, ¡§Apple no longer accepts cash for iPhones and does not sell more than two devices per person.¡¨