By James Mosieur
Do you have your heart set on an iPhone? You may want to get in line now. A May poll by research firm M:Metrics revealed that about 19 million U.S. cell phone users are ready to fork over as much as $599 for the new iPhone. That’s almost what Bernstein Research predicts Apple will sell through 2008.
The new iPhone will go on sale June 29 and all indications are the demand will be huge. AT&T is hiring 2000 temporary workers to help with the launch. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has forecast sales of 10 million iPhones in the first 18 months –a conservative estimate based on independent research.
AT&T nabbed the iPhone exclusive early on. M:Metrics analyst Mark Donovan said “Two-thirds of the people who said they have a strong interest in buying an iPhone currently subscribe to AT&T’s three biggest competitors.” He added “In this mature market, it’s all about stealing customers from competitors.”
Even the hefty price tag – as much a $599 with a two year contract – does not seem to discourage potential buyers. It is still unclear what plan AT&T will require with the iPhone but you can be sure the lure of technology will overpower the fear of the unknown. Donovan noted that once the initial group gets its iPhones contract pricing may be a barrier to some buyers.
Because of the youthful demographic, T-Mobile customers seem to have the most interest in changing. According to the M:Metrics survey, 12.5% of T-Mobile subscribers expressed a high interest in buying the iPhone, compared to 8.1% for Sprint Nextel customers and 6.7% for Verizon users.
Tags: iPhone, T-Mobile, telephone
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