99 Dollars – that’s what you’ve got pay somebody to stand in a queue for your iPhone on the day of its launch. The marketing blitz has started. Ads (quite ordinary) are being bombarded; the stores have started the tease and there is anticipation in the air. The wait for the iPhone is almost over.
There are reports of young people trying to get jobs at Apple stores just so they can lay their hands on the iPhone before their friends. Stocks of Cingular-AT&T which has an exclusive deal to sell iPhone packages are up and analysts forecast a 4% subscriber churn in the first three months from other service providers to AT&T.
There is unanimity that Apple will simply not be able to meet demand for the iPhone, at least in the short term despite ramping up production to over 4 million sets in the first year. As is always the case, there are also naysayers who feel that Nokia, Motorola etc. will soon come up with new models which will be more competitive than the iPhone – especially since they know mobiles better than Apple.
Since I am in Atlantic City and the casinos’ spirit is all pervasive, here’s my bet - the iPhone will change the way mobiles are used. It will go through the usual hiccups before taking flight but eventually it will.
And it all starts on Friday, June 29 at 5 PM.
There are reports of young people trying to get jobs at Apple stores just so they can lay their hands on the iPhone before their friends. Stocks of Cingular-AT&T which has an exclusive deal to sell iPhone packages are up and analysts forecast a 4% subscriber churn in the first three months from other service providers to AT&T.
There is unanimity that Apple will simply not be able to meet demand for the iPhone, at least in the short term despite ramping up production to over 4 million sets in the first year. As is always the case, there are also naysayers who feel that Nokia, Motorola etc. will soon come up with new models which will be more competitive than the iPhone – especially since they know mobiles better than Apple.
Since I am in Atlantic City and the casinos’ spirit is all pervasive, here’s my bet - the iPhone will change the way mobiles are used. It will go through the usual hiccups before taking flight but eventually it will.
And it all starts on Friday, June 29 at 5 PM.
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