Hype Builds As Clock Ticks Down to iPhone Debut

Jun 28, 08:38 PM

Current Headlines: How badly do you want an iPhone? Would you pay $1,500 to buy one? How about $300 for someone to wait in line for you?

With iPhone mania gripping the US prior to the Apple gadget's launch this evening a cottage industry has sprung up with people using the Internet to offer iPhones they plan to buy, or simply offering to queue up for wealthy buyers.

The iPhone's 6pm sale launch seems increasingly like the release of concert tickets rather than the debut of a consumer electronics product.

In New York the fist buyer began to wait outside the Apple store at 5am on Monday.

However, unlike tickets to a live event, which is time-sensitive and has limited capacity, the iPhone sale period will be ongoing, and Apple expects to sell as many as 10 million of them next year.

Because of the nature of mobile phone sales in the US, where most phones are "locked" to a number and service provider, Apple is unable to use what would otherwise likely be its most successful sales channel: its online store. Instead, consumers are waiting outside AT&T and Apple stores in cities across the US.

Neither the iPhone's ultimate availability, nor the device's minimum $499 price tag - not including a required two-year service contract with AT&T - has stemmed a rush of eager buyers.

The iPhone combines a multimedia player similar to a video iPod, with a mobile phone and digital camera. Bridging otherwise separate communication mediums it offers Internet access, e-mail and text messaging, similar to the BlackBerry, which has become ubiquitous in American executives' offices over the past couple of years.

Rather than a raft of buttons the iPhone has a single large touch- sensitive screen that virtual buttons and a keyboard can appear on. The cheapest $499 model has a 4 gigabyte hard drive, for $100 more buyers get 8 gigabytes of storage.

But possibly the iPhone's greatest asset is its too-die-for good looks - continuing Apple's pedigree for great design it's sleek and shiny body makes other mobile phones look like ugly bricks

Apple aims for the iPhone to build on the success of its iPod music player, the very name of which has become synonymous with portable mp3 players.

But it's a gamble - whereas there were few huge mp3 makers before Apple burst on to the scene, the mobile phone market is dominated by household names such as Nokia, Sony and LG, all of whom already sell music phones.

Meanwhile the BlackBerry e-mail/text messaging device has already captured the hearts of professionals.

"The iPhone has Harry Potter consumer interest, but it's not going to have Harry Potter sales because it's a premium device," said Strategy Analytics analyst David Kerr, referring to author J.K. Rowling's blockbuster series about a boy wizard which throws youngsters into hysterics with each new book or film release.

The iPhone's price alone will minimize its impact on the market, as 85 percent of current US mobile subscribers paid less than $100 for their phone.

So what is driving iPhone mania and building queues outside Apple and AT&T stores across the US.

Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart put it down to one thing: "They're looking to buy into the hype and buy some of it for themselves."

China Daily - Agencies

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