10/19/2007, 9:20am, EDT
Friday, October 19thReport: iPhone fourth-best selling US phone
The iPhone was the top-selling device at AT&T during the third quarter, and the fourth-ranked cellphone in the US as a whole, according to a report by research group Strategy Analytics. Approximately 1.1 million iPhones were sold through Apple and AT&T outlets in Q307, bringing the total number of units sold since the Q2 launch to 1.325 million. Q3 sales of the phone consumed 13 percent of all AT&T sales, and made it the fourth-best selling handset in the US, with its position likely to increase. "The sales trajectory we are observing with the iPhone could make it the top selling device in the US over the next 1-2 quarters," says Strategy Analytics' Barry Gilbert.
The number one cellphone in the US is presently Motorola's RAZR V3, famous for its metallic sheen and thin form factor. But even its sales are being whittled away due to the launch of newer and better models, Strategy Analytics notes.
Demographics indicate that the average iPhone buyer is college-educated, and fairly wealthy, coming from a household with six-figure income. Most buyers are between 20 and 30 years old, but almost 25 percent of them are between 50 and 60, indicating that the iPhone is not merely a youth trend. Within the broader spectrum, most owners say they are very satisfied with the device's design and features; complaints increase, however, when it comes to issues such as reliability, battery life, instructions and customer support.
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...and Apple was no stranger to having their products cloned:
http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?st=1&c=509
http://lowendmac.com/coventry/06/1205.html
http://lowendmac.com/clones/unitron.html
Ah, good times, good times....
Either way, the Meizu may enjoy *very* brief sales, until Apple hits the Asian market, but if it can't leave the Chinese market, it is almost a stillborn.
- At the price they want for it, it is pretty much out of reach of most middle class Chinese, and rich Chinese (I hesitate to use 'high' class, as they simply lack any) will not want to be seen with a 'copy' product.
- China, and many Asian countries are extremely status driven, which mandates purchases of the real thing, which is why iPhones (real ones) sell in Hong Kong for $1,500.
- Look at the iPod Touch, and you will see that Apple is ready for Chinese localization (included in 1.1.1 already), and by the time they hit the Asian market, the iPhone will most likely cost the same, or insignificantly more than the Meizu product, making it an obvious decision to buy Apple's - also, it will offer more hardware features by next year.
On the other hand, Kudos to Meizu for actually an earnest effort at reverse engineering - I understand that unlike many cheaper iPhone clones (which run Windows Mobile), the Meizu runs Linux as the base, and they go to extremes to actually, genuinely, reverse engineer the Apple product - at the very least, once the Meizu flops, they *might* be able to turn all that R&D savvy into a some genuine derivative products, or turn it into developing for the iPhone, and some related products.
Being Chinese, though, they will do neither.
It doesn't fly in the face. Esp. when considering mac users, who can have problem after problem with their computer, yet say they're satisfied with it. People can say "I'm very satisified with my phone. But freakin' AT&T, when are they going to get decent service near my home!"
Freakin' electrnista. You think they could fix such a stupid bug with their forums, you know!
AT&T should be happy for the Apple Stores, as if it were just up to AT&T to sell it, the numbers would be far smaller.
AT&T stores, at least the ones I went to in California, are notorious in trying to steer customers away from iPhone, and towards some crap phone that the salesmen get paid better spiffs on. Sadly.
Between the "Let me show you a better phone" and the "Don't buy one now, Apple will release a better one in December", I'm surprised they sell any at all.
they can pay the darn spiffs, and have this phenomena work in their favor...
If you WANTED to go out and buy a counterfeit pair of jeans, bottle of Chivas Regal Whisky, Nokia cell phone (let alone the battery), play station, I could go on and on.. but my point is - if you actually wanted to go out and buy these counterfeit goods anywhere EXCEPT Asia, you would not only have a hard time doing so - but probably not succeed. Here in Asia, all you have to do.. is simply go out and buy the items - chances are 60%+ and in many places 100% that they will be counterfeit.
As for the iPhone - The reason they are that expensive in Hong Kong - is that they are not released there yet and they are still on the black market - simple.