Most media and analysts said that Apple (AAPL) sold over 500,000 iPhones and that the figure showed high than expected demand. TheStreet.com writes that Apple’s own goal was one million units and that the product launch was a bust.
Due to the "poor" launch, stocks in company’s like Sprint (S) rose late last week.
But, the theories about what early sales of the iPhone mean are wrong, and it will be several quarters until the effect of the handset is really known.
Sprint, for example, has problems of its own, well beyond the iPhone. It could loss a million customers to the iPhone this year, but if its could improve its integration with NexTel and upgrade customer service, it might not matter. If the company’s planned roll-out of a national WiMax network is an early success, the iPhone will hardly be an issue.
The early sales of the iPhone will also be limited because it does not work on AT&T’s (T) 3G network. Early adopters, a phrase coined by out-of-work marketing executives, may buy the new handset with the substandard network, But, most smart mainstream customers will wait. And, that will allow companies like Nokia (NOK) and Sony Ericsson to get new products to market to compete with the Apple product.
Come back at the end of Q1 2008, and maybe the market will have some useful data.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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