Business | Technology
Apple's iPhone remains alluring to early buyers
Bradley Wilson was one of thousands who lined up to buy the iPhone the day it went on sale in June 2007. He's ready to camp out again next month when Apple starts selling a faster, cheaper model.
- Bloomberg
- Published: 00:07 June 27, 2008
San Francisco: Bradley Wilson was one of thousands who lined up to buy the iPhone the day it went on sale in June 2007. He's ready to camp out again next month when Apple starts selling a faster, cheaper model.
A year after entering the mobile-phone market, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs aims to win customers with a $199 handset as competitors begin touting less-expensive "iPhone killers". Early iPhone users, some of whom paid as much as $599 for the web-surfing device, said they will be among the first to buy.
"I'm stoked about the price drop and understand Apple's desire to get the iPhone into as many hands as possible," said Wilson of Alexandria, Virginia, a staffer at National Geographic. He says he may give his old model to the family member who begs the most. "I would pay the price I paid last year again if I had to do it over - it's been worth every penny."
After the touch-screen phone debuted last June 29, Apple sold more than six million before running out in May. Devotees like Wilson and new converts may help Jobs sell 10 million this year, giving Apple one per cent of the global market.
The new iPhone 3G, which runs on speedier third-generation wireless networks, will include a global positioning system and download internet content twice as fast as the old model.
"I would wager that half the installed base will upgrade," said Glenn Edens, a computer analyst in Woodside, California, who bought one of the most expensive iPhone models a year ago. "It's a pretty low-cost update for GPS and 3G."
Leery
Not every iPhone owner is ready to trade up. Joe Ridge, a computer technician at the University of Maryland, is leery of Apple's pricing tactics. Two months after the iPhone's debut, Apple sliced the top model to $399 from $599 and discontinued a $499 version.
"Just based on what I've gotten out of it and hope to continue to get out of it, it is worth the price I paid," Ridge said.
Still, he "might be a bit more wary about buying a brand-new product from Apple in future".
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