Apple CEO Steve Jobs knows how to create marketable hype ands the launch of the iPhone only enhanced the repuattions of the company and its CEO.
Until AT&T's second-quarter earnings report Tuesday showed a surprisingly low number of iPhone sales plan activations, everyone thought the new wireless device was off to a flying start. That, of course, led analysts to conclude that fewer phones were sold then originally forecast.
Sales issues aside, here's a look at the phone itself.
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.
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.
Dissecting the iPhone
With the iPhone on the streets, what else is left but to unravel its bodily secrets? iSuppli, which sells reports to customers detailing the processors, memory and materials used in each iPhone, revealed that Samsung Electronics, Infineon Technologies and Texas Instruments all delivered components and worked with Apple to create the device. Each iPhone sold will generate 50% profit on the cost of each phonefor Apple, but Apple is not the only victor. According to CNBC’s Julia Boorstin, Samsung, the biggest winner among tech suppliers, will generate $52 to $76 in revenue per phone, depending on which iPhone model -- the 4GB or larger-memory 8GB – sells the most. Another big winner is Infineon, a maker of Edge chips used in phones like Apple’s iPhone, which will generate over $15 in revenue per phone. Its competitor in Edge chip technology, Texas Instruments, will only generate $4 per phone. Apple is not contractually bound to any of these tech suppliers, Boorstin said, as it hopes to change its suppliers once it has calculated its need for the next-generation iPhone.