Piper: iPhone plans increasing confidence
updated 10:05 am EST, Fri March 7, 2008
Piper: iPhone confidence
Apple's press event yesterday inspires greater confidence in the company's sales targets for 2008, say analysts with Piper Jaffray. The research group notes that it is particularly excited by the prospect of the SDK and the App Store, which, come June, should liberate iPhone users from the restrictions and speeds of current web-based applications. Piper describes the new iPhone as a "full-fledged mobile computing platform," and expects Apple to follow up with a "full family" of Internet-capable devices going into the future.
The analysts comment that Apple may be eager to avoid the problem it had during the 1980s, when there was no firm developer community for the Mac. The mobile platform with the most active development arena will probably win, Piper argues, although Apple may need to drive down prices.
Contributing to optimistic prospects for Apple is the addition of ActiveSync support, enabling links with enterprise mail, contacts and calendars. This should put the iPhone into more direct competition with Windows Mobile devices, as well as Research in Motion's BlackBerries, which virtually control the business phone market. Price is again said to be a major concern, as even many BlackBerries are not as expensive as the $399 iPhone. Piper says it nevertheless expects Apple to reach its goal of 10 million iPhone sold in 2008.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Dec 2005
Usual dribble
What an inane prediction. The company just got $100 mil. to make the iPhone platform a powerful factor, and there's little to make you think it won't.
And what's this "apple should drive down developer app. prices" c***? Apple left it TOTALLY open ended on how much things would cost, leaving it all up to individual DEVELOPERS. What is too expensive, people won't buy, and what isn't worth buying won't be bought. When it comes to market economics in mobile apps, Apple has created the perfect storm for a raging capitalist-minded market that has nowhere to go but up. You have what, if it isn't now, will become THE most popular piece of mobile web hardware, a store model that brings everything to people on their phone, and no contract fees to worry about. Then there's also the easy design, coding, and update delivery system.
The bottom line is that as long as you sell at least one copy of you app, you're going to make money, and it doesn't cost you anything monetarily to try (aside from the one-time $99 certification fee). There's relatively little risk here and much to be gained. For those developers that see mobile web and apps on such devices as a viable future, you really can't ask for anything more.