High-end wireless vulnerable to Apple iPhone?
Note: Reuters has this story about the iPhone and how it might mean big money for Cingular Wireless by targeting early adopters and high value customers. Dal thinks they are right. Everyone I have talked to even non-apple fans want one.
Apple Computer Inc.'s new superslim iPhone with a buttonless touch-screen will pose a challenge to high-end cell phones, but its initial pricing will give rivals some breathing room, analysts said.
Apple said on Tuesday it will begin shipping the new gadget, which combines a mobile phone with Internet, e-mail, music, pictures and video, in the United States in June. An 8-gigabyte model will cost $599 and a 4-gigabyte model $499.
Chief Executive Steve Jobs said Apple, which has an exclusive agreement with No. 1 U.S. cellular operator Cingular Wireless, could sell 10 million iPhones in 2008.
The news pushed up Apple's shares, but roiled the stocks of handheld gadget makers like Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) and Palm Inc..
The iPhone takes aim at high-end cell phones from Motorola Inc., Nokia Oyj, Samsung Electronics Ltd. and Sony Ericsson, and dampens the prospects of RIM's Blackberry or Palm's Treo in the wider consumer market.
"This (iPhone) does have the potential to shake up the competitive landscape even if it's not a device that's targeted to mass consumers," said Michael Nelson, analyst at Stanford Group. "It's clearly targeted toward the highest-value subscribers and they are the most profitable subscribers."
Much will depend on how fast Apple cuts prices, or whether Cingular assumes some of the cost when people sign on to their service. Neither company would comment on future pricing.
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Posted to WiFi / Wireless