Sealed battery? Closed operating system? No physical keyboard? Slow data / No 3G? Say what? Despite all the iPhone’s negative attributes (and in spite of all the iPhone’s detractors), Apple has just outsold all other smartphone in the month of July. According to a study from iSuppli, the Apple iPhone’s first full month of sales proved to scoop up an incredible 1.8% of US mobile handset sales – dwarfing sales of smartphones from Palm, RIM, Sony Ericsson, and even Nokia.
For a mobile phone that doesn’t even have the latest technology (GPS or 3G) we’re seeing rampant sales of the first handset offering from Apple. Says iSuppli, “While iSuppli has not collected historical information on this topic, it’s likely that the speed of the iPhone’s rise to competitive dominance in its segment is unprecedented in the history of the mobile-handset market.”
iSuppli’s data was gathered through an online survey of 2 million participants and represents a mostly male, under 35, college graduate demographic. And, a quarter (1/4) of iPhone buyers actually switched from another carrier to AT&T in order to get a chance to buy the iPhone – that’s like moving from the Valley to Santa Monica, CA. so you could be in the more desirable beach neighborhood.
It seems that most smartphone buyers in the US are not concerned with any of the iPhone’s downsides – concentrating on the revolutionary interface and “coolness” factor. Surely there are people that wouldn’t touch the iPhone with a 10-ft. pole, but that group seems to now be the minority – a dwindling minority, if iSuppli’s forecast of 4.5 million iPhone sales pans out.
[Via: Reuters]