May 1st, 2007
Interest in iPhone = High … Actual Buyers … Well …
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Despite the fact that Cingular is seeing a slowdown in sales before the launch of the iPhone, which some have attributed to a “wait until it releases” phase prior to the iPhone launch, a Markitecture survey indicates that although there is high interest in the new phone, not that many will actually make the leap.
Based on a poll of 1,300 people who owned a cell phone and were responsible for the monthly payments, 77 percent of those polled said they’d heard about the iPhone. Forty-one percent of those familiar with the iPhone had a good impression based on what they’d seen and heard, according to the firm.
But despite that strong initial impression, two-thirds of those familiar with the product said there was “zero chance” they’d buy one. Source: Macworld
We Say: On the other hand 6% say they’d like one … and as small as that may seem, Markitecture indicated that the Razr at its peak only reached 6% … so that may be quite good, if it pans out.
Charles says:
Sorry, but in the real world, cell phones need physical buttons.
As a low-use “isn’t it cool!” device, it is the ultimate.
I’m not really a heavy cell user, and even I want a keypad buttons, small enough to fit in my front pocket, and a reasonably durable screen.
It’s a lot of money for a device with a questionable level of practicality.
May 2nd, 2007 at 12:37 am
Another Mike says:
Charles, you got it right. physical buttons I can use while the device is still in my pocket is what I need. The reason I got my current phone(w810i) is because the buttons feel perfect when it’s in my pocket. Oh that and it does music very well.
Buuuuuut. I’m still very interested in the iPhone. Not that I’d be getting one but once it’s out we’ll be seeing every cell maker coming up with something new and exciting. And that is something to get excited about. Screw the iPhone; I can’t wait til everyone has something to compete.
May 2nd, 2007 at 11:17 am
Jim Frost says:
There are a bunch of phones on the market with “chicklet” type keypads — pretty much smooth face, little feedback — that are proving very popular.
I even bought one, although I prefer real keys. Other phone features outweighed the desire for real keys. That may end up being the case here, and I note that I’ve used PDAs both with and without keys and ended up preferring those without — they’re smaller.
YMMV but I like the iphone in concept. I think the massively improved address book integration (versus every phone I’ve ever used, anyway) likely negates a strong need for buttons except if you send a lot of text messages. And even for that I’d like to try it before I decided it’s screwed up.
If I could replace my PDA with it entirely I would almost certainly buy one, and thought hard about whether or not I should (wait to) get one to replace my aging phone a few months ago. But Cingular … don’t really want Cingular. Don’t really want to pay that much for a phone. Can do almost everything I use my PDA for, but not quite (like I’d have to ditch my ebook library).
Pass this time. We’ll see how it looks in a couple of years. But I would be surprised if this phone doesn’t sell as many as Apple can produce for the first couple of years.
May 4th, 2007 at 1:12 am