CrunchGear has some big-time concerns about the iPhone, which is a refreshing change from the “rah-rah, oh-I-can’t-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-one” enthusiasm that has been gushing through the blogosphere this week since Apple announced the iPhone will be available on June 29. When it comes to the iPhone,
I’m in the “show me” camp. As much as Apple and Steve Jobs have the magic touch these days with the iPod and the MacBook being so warmly embraced by consumers, the iPhone is a different creature. For one, it’s expensive so you’ve got to think that could limit its appeal. Second, the smart phone market is already crowded, and the SmartPhone concept really hasn’t resonated with consumers if you want to call a spade a spade. Then, you’ve got all the technical concerns raised by CrunchGear.
Given these issues, I find it hard to believe that Piper Jaffrey is predicting that 45 million iPhones will be sold by 2009 based on the belief Apple will grab 7% of handset market in North America and 2.8% of the handset market in the rest of the world. That’s a pretty bullish assumption when the phone hasn’t even hit the market yet. Maybe I’m wrong, and the iPhone will be snapped up consumers but I’ll exercise pragmatic caution before jumping on the bandwagon.
Update: Jobs is expected to show off the new Leopard OS on Monday during the worldwide developer conference in San Francisco. A key feature will be core animation, which is explained by Wired’s Scott Gilbertson.
Technorati Tags: Apple
It is going to sell like wild fire to start, all the “Mac-ees” are foaming at the mouth already. Even my geek friends are dying to get thier grubby paws on it.
I’ll keep my Blackbery 8800 thank you very much, with it’s stable OS, perfect funtionality and slick looks.
Not sure that the iPhone will bomb. The cost is certainly bringing it to a different consumer category than the iPod. The service exclusivity was a well-known hitch from the time the iPhone was first publicly announced, and one that will probably be the biggest barrier to adoption.
As far as the screen knock discussed on CrunchGear, it will probably use the same shiny, hard and scratch resistant plastic used on tablets. I haven’t heard any discussion around the stock battery, but I hope they don’t make the same mistake they did with the iPod battery replacement (or lack thereof) which required you sending your entire iPod back to Apple. If the 1st generation iPhone comes with the same requirement, I can’t even see a 2nd generation correction winning back the corporate audience, and the road warrior who can’t be without his iPhone for more than a day, let alone waiting a week or two for it to return from Apple.
Mark Evans - Hey, We’re Talking Tech
[...] 29. Kevin’s excited and thinks it will be a smash-hit. I’m somewhat more pragmatic (see my post earlier today). More out of obligation than anything else, we also talked about the $30-billion private-equity [...]