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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
Apple iPhone Initial Sales Below Market Expectations
Austin, TX – Apple and AT&T have reported the launch numbers from the first 2 days of iPhone sales. According to Apple, 270,000 iPhone units were shipped to Apple and AT&T retail stores for the launch on June 29. Of those, AT&T is reporting initial activations of 146,000. These numbers encompass just the Friday and Saturday of the launch, which were the only days that fell in 2Q07.
Given this information, it is clear that the market hype set expectations too high for the launch numbers. Early analyst predictions had sales anywhere from 400,000 to 700,000 with many landing on 500,000 as an estimate for first weekend sales. While there will certainly be some additional sales realized when the sales from Sunday are added in, the hard cap of only 227,000 handsets shipped to retail outlets means that these numbers were excessively high. Early adopters and gadget geeks tended to make up a lot of the mix for the launch, so the coming months should provide a better picture of what the iPhone’s true potential is in the mobile handset space.
“As IMS Research predicted, the high price tag and single carrier did prove to be an obstacle for some consumers,” explained IMS Research Analyst Bill Morelli. “The launch was still a significant success for a new entrant to the handset space. The key issue for Apple is to build on the initial launch numbers. With plans to launch in select countries in Europe and Asia in 2008, the stated goal of ten million units by the end of 4Q08 should be an achievable goal.”
Tim Cook, Apple COO stated “The starting gun has been fired and we have gotten off to a great start. However, our primary focus is not on initial sales. We are focused on building a third great business for Apple over the long term, alongside our Mac and iPod businesses.” He went on to add, “It won’t be easy to build the third business because the competitors are large and entrenched, and it won’t be done overnight.”
IMS Research agrees with Apple’s position, particularly with regard to the challenges faced by the iPhone in a highly competitive handset market. Traditionally the high-end, high dollar smartphone segment has been targeted at enterprise and business users. The iPhone’s 2.5G chipset, lack of enterprise email support, a feature set that is entertainment driven, and Apple’s historically weak position in enterprise messaging make for a less than ideal fit with business users. The success of the iPhone will depend on the Apple’s ability to create a new market tier of consumer smartphones, that will leverage the companies inherent strengths in this area.
About IMS Research
IMS Research is a supplier of market research and consultancy services on a wide range of global electronics markets. The company is supported by headquarters in Wellingborough, UK and offices in Austin, Texas and Shanghai, China. IMS Research regularly publishes detailed research on the wireless market, including a new dedicated report on technology/feature penetration in mobile phones, handset I/O and a report on GPS, amongst others. www.imsresearch.com
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