Well, it's coming.
Is everybody on the AT&T-formerly-Cingular-network ready for the iPhone?
In a statement more fit for Hollywood than Silicon Valley, Apple announced that their cell phone/portable multimedia gadget "premieres this Friday night at Apple retail stores." Said stores will be opening at 9 a.m. all summer long to offer "support for iPhone at the Genius Bar and personal training through Apple's new One to One program."
Responding, Verizon (which doesn't have the iPhone) fired back, saying their own retail stores will be open all day tomorrow, letting customers test drive the Verizon network and their own set of 18 multimedia/music phones. The popular LG VX9400 is now available for $99, and Verizon is giving away a "music essentials kit," which includes a 2GB memory card, headphones and a data transfer cable to anyone who buys it.
They're also offering "name that song," which allows users to hold their phone up to any speaker with a song playing. The software identifies the song and lets the user instantly download it to their phone.
The iPhone is expected to have a strong burst of immediate sales, but some experts are skeptical about its ability to attract a strong market share among regular consumers.
"The underlying drivers for converging music, multimedia, and communications capabilities in a device such as an iPhone are certainly prevalent in today's market," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates. "However, the high price point may prevent the iPhone from achieving greater adoption over the short term. It may be an early-adopter product that appeals to technophiles but initially leaves other interested users on the outside looking in."
Parks Associates recently put out a study showing only 3% of consumers surveyed are strongly interested in spending $499.99 on the iPhone including a two-year contract.
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