Video Roundup: Deconstructing The iPhone
Anita Yadavalli
Verizon Killer?
AT&T's iPhone support will grab “some amount of shares from Verizon” -- though it will stimulate sales for all wireless network carriers in the long run, according to Frank Louthan, an analyst at Raymond James Telecom. “For the folks that fall short of buying the iPhone, and look at other devices with similar features, that will probably stimulate some demand,” Louthan said on “Squawk Box." As for AT&T, Louthan estimates it will make “roughly a 4.5% margin on the sale” of each iPhone. He said this would allow the wireless network provider to subsidize some of the other products that it sells. “Their competitors will be at a margin disadvantage if they match the price,” Louthan said. He expects that of the 10 million iPhones that will be available starting June 29, “seven or eight million” will be sold domestically, while the rest will be sold internationally over the next 18 months. “If you look at where online music is, iTunes really has become the standard, and with the iPhone, that’s where I think people will be drawn."
One Review Of The Device
“The glitzy wonder kit is indeed worth lusting after,” said Edward Baig, "USA Today" technology reporter, who shared his review of the device with CNBC. Baig said the iPhone does everything you see it do on the commercials that have been flooding television, including manually enlarging and minimizing the screen, and accessing everything with the swipe of your index finger. Baig is less impressed with the network of AT&T, Apple’s exclusive service provider. “A lot of times it was not that fast,” Baig of the time it took to connect to the Internet, which can be accessed with the iPhone. The phone works “pretty well”, meaning faster, however, via a wireless home network, he said. As for typing on the keyboard-less phone, Baig said it “takes getting used to.” As for the device’s battery – which is suspect to some -- Baig said it lasted through the day. He did suggest consumers charge the phone each night, despite Apple’s claim that the iPhone’s battery has eight to nine hours of talk time.
Palm May Sweat
More and more analysts say the wireless device will hurt smartphone sales of competing wireless network carriers -- at least in the short term. Travis McCourt of Morgan Keegan told "Morning Call" that, “In the near-term, it’s certainly going to have a negative impact, especially on the more consumer-oriented smartphones such as the Palm Treo.” But, he added, “in the long term, it’s probably a good deal of free marketing for the whole smartphone industry.” Lawrence Harris, a wireless equipment analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., isn’t sure about “free marketing” -- and sees the iPhone having an even more “potentially significant impact” on Treo sales. “If you look at the demographics for the Palm Treo versus the Apple, it’s very similar – generally, people in their 20s and 30s, college graduate students, owners of small businesses,” he said. Harris added that Research in Motion, the maker of BlackBerry handhelds, will also get hurt -- but not to the extent that Palm might.
Another Take on the Device
“This is really a hand-held computer,” said Walter Mossberg, personal technology columnist for “The Wall Street Journal,” who was quick to conclude that the iPhone is easy to use. After testing the Apple device, he found that it accommodated nine hours of exclusive web surfing, 22 hours of continuous music playing time, and seven hours of video time. Mossberg said the phone also works overseas, though one has to pay roaming fees to the network provider. Mossberg added that one clear flaw is Apple's decision to contract with only one wireless network provider, AT&T.
