It's (even more) official: iPhone is a monster hit

Wed Oct 22, 2008 10:08AM EDT

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Apple now counts itself as the third largest phone manufacturer in the world, and with 6.9 million iPhones sold last quarter, it managed to beat RIM at its own game. It's an incredible feat, and even more evidence that the iPhone—love it or hate it—has changed the wireless game.

During a quarterly conference call on Tuesday, Apple execs (including a surprise appearance by Steve Jobs himself) crowed that they've already beaten their target of selling 10 million iPhone by the end of 2008—indeed, about 13 million have been sold worldwide.

As the New York Times notes, Apple now trails only Nokia and Samsung in terms of phone sales, and it even edged BlackBerry-maker RIM in the financial fourth quarter. In all, Apple stands to rake in $4.6 billion in iPhone sales alone for Q4—about $600 million more than it made from its Mac computers.

Now, consider this: Just 16 months ago, Apple had yet to sell its first iPhone. No one was really talking about touchscreen phones until the iPhone was unveiled (to a stunned Macworld audience). Pre-iPhone, most folks didn't bother checking the Web on their handsets—and given the awful WAP browsers on most phones, why would they? And the thought of lining up for a new cell phone was ... well, unthinkable.

If anything, the iPhone 3G—despite all the complaints about reception, battery life, and its (relatively) pricey data plan—only heightened the frenzy. Chalk it up to a pair of factors: 1) A greater comfort level, being that the iPhone 3G is a second-generation product, and 2) the $199 price tag (for the 8GB version).

Anecdotally, I can tell you that practically everyone I meet (no kidding) asks me two questions: "What do you do?", followed closely by "Should I get an iPhone?" I had a dentist appointment yesterday, and my hygienist quizzed me about the iPhone 3G for a good 10 minutes. (Thankfully, she didn't start scraping my teeth until she'd finished her inquisition—and yes, she's buying one.)

The iPhone is finally getting some serious competition this year: The impressive T-Mobile G1 goes on sale today, and the BlackBerry Storm—complete with a new, clickable touchscreen—is set for later this year. That said, we wouldn't have a G1 or a Storm without an iPhone.

Related:
Steve Jobs’s Home Run With the iPhone [The New York Times]

Comments on It's (even more) official: iPhone is a monster hit

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  • 1 Posted by drmohamedelgamal on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:48PM EDT Report Abuse

    I am sorry, WHAT THE F*** , you say touch screen phones were unthinkable before the IPHONE, are you kidding, have you even heard about HTC, and Palm or did your Iphone wipe your memory, I had a touch screen that I browsed the web on it even before apple think about the iphone, and I am still carrying a t-mobile mda and I have no reason to get an ipone, in fact I will loose functinality because the ipone doesn't have the wide software base I use. and Head to head the internet looked better on my MDA than on the Iphone

  • 2 Posted by bdjohn06 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    "No one was really talking about touchscreen phones until the iPhone was unveiled" Read it well before you go on a huge rage. Sure a couple touchscreen phones were available before but they were USUALLY A) extremely pricey or B) not very user friendly

  • 3 Posted by yaya_princessblingbling on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:55PM EDT Report Abuse

    As a former employee of the largest Wireless providor, I have to disagree. Touch screen phones were around before the IPhone, they were just geared toward business professionals in the form of the TREO, the SAMSUNG 6600, not for just any Joe on the street that wanted to look cool. I own a Rim Phone, I have for years, and I can't imagine going to a device, touch screen or not, that has the limits that the IPhone does. No camera, No MMS,no actual keyboard (which is a HUGE complaint among IPhone users) and I dont care what anyone says, AT&T's 3G network is unreliable and their customer service sucks.

  • 4 Posted by chmyr on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:23PM EDT Report Abuse

    It is not surprising that Apple has already exceeded its targeted sales goal. Perhaps every three months in the next two years will witness technological wonders in the wireless industry, like this iPhone craze. Who knows? Some 4G handsets will hit the market sooner or later and beat the 3G phones.Time will tell.

  • 5 Posted by deacondan63 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:39PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have a iPhone and I hate the fact that you have to pay $20.00 extra for internet access. You can't send or recieve photos via cell phone number exchange (e-mail only). Battery life sucks and you have to send the phone into the company to have your battery changed. I like all of the other features on it so I'm stuck.

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