During the month of July, Apple’s iPhone accounted for 1.8% of the mobile handset sales. While this number may not seem like much, it’s quite an accomplishment for Apple, particularly because it’s their first time entering the mobile phone industry. This information came from a recent survey conducted by ISuppli who also revealed that the iPhone outsold Smartphones for the month, another impressive accomplishment.
While I’ve heard time after time that the iPhone is no replacement for a Smartphone, particularly those who use it for business, it would appear that people are willing to set the Smartphone aside and give the iPhone a try. In the Smartphone category we find devices like the Blackberry, Palm Portfolio, and others from companies like Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung – all of which the iPhone managed to out-sell!
If you had to take a guess at the demographics of those buying the iPhone, what would they be? Chances are you’re spot-on. My guess was that the majority of iPhone owners are under 40, and male. As it turns out, I wasn’t too far off. According to the study, most iPhone owners are male, under the age of 35, with a college degree.
As a “crossover phone” that finds itself competing with both Smartphones and Feature Phones, I don’t think we can underestimate the power of the iPhone. The first two days of activations may have fallen below what analysts projected, but the month of July was a pretty big one for them. And to boot, analysts are still expecting that Apple will be able to sell 4.5 million iPhones this year alone!
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This ought to be a wakeup call to Palm and RIM. Hopefully soon we shall see some cool devices from the smart phone makers, with slick UI!
I use my iPhone for “business”, and it’s definitely the best “phone” I have had. There is no comparison to the other “smartphones” out there.
I’ve never actually seen anyone using an iPhone…
BTW, check out this iPhone survey you can take or see the results: [techsay.com]
I definitely think that they will have to get creative now, although RIM may not see a reason to go to the more “flashy” interfaces.
The only thing that would hold me back from getting one is the fact that the Internet is pretty slow (relative to other services) and I can’t connect my laptop to it for modem use.
And now that the 8GB model of the iPhone is $200 cheaper, I’d say it’s one of the more affordable “smartphones.”
How is the iphone classifies as a smartphone? When compare to a true smartphone( like my N82), the iphone is clearly nowhere near smartphone capabilities. Firstly, smartphones must be able to multi-task, which the iphone is not. But, for browsing and viewing material, it shines no doubt.
A smartphone is one that offers computer-like functionality, and the iPhone definitely does that.
It still does not multitask…its not a computer. Everyone forgot WM? They are real king.