A new poll shows that the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, marketed through AT&T (NYSE: T) Wireless, could take more business from competing cell service providers than was previously believed. According to a survey in May of about 11,000 cellphone users by M:Metrics Inc, two-thirds of the people interesting in buying the phone are not AT&T customers.
Most vulnerable of the competition is T-Mobile, a units of Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT). Almost 13% of its customers expressed strong interest in the phone. DT recently expressed confidence in its US unit, which ranks fourth in the US, saying it would grow faster than the US market over the next few years. Well, maybe not.
About 8% of Sprint (NYSE: S) customers expressed interest. That would be bad news for the company which has been struggling in competition with AT&T and Verizon Wireless due to trouble integrating NexTel and poor customer service.
If the iPhone can steal anywhere the number of customers that the survey indicates, it will be a huge benefit for AT&T, which has been losing landline consumers to VoIP and needs it cell arm to help make up the revenue shortfall.
Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 247 Wall St.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-15-2007 @ 11:12AM
PakieMak said...
Losing the iPhone will go down in VZW's biggest blunder. By many "haters" out there, the iPhone and Apple are the biggest jokes in planet Earth, but the people like me, who don't take sides, know that 1. Apple is a threat because they don't wonder into other sectors like MS so their monies stay focused 2. The iPhone, no matter your thoughts of it, will fill a huge gap in "personal" electronics. The iPhone is a phone, organizer, entertainment center and web accessible.
The iPhone might not be the best for companies because it might not be "smart" like a Blackberry, but professionals like me that want more accessibility with less technology will love this phone for trail-rides, runs, going to the gym and even shopping with the lady.
This first release of the iPhone will have many short-comings, like many first releases. You can't change the battery for one. The rest, keyboard buttons, flash not supported and any little unconfirmed short-comings are just rumors or descriptions laid out by other people.
And yes... the iPhone is a great step forward.
6-18-2007 @ 10:20AM
doug said...
The I-phone IS great...if you are a teeny bopper whose mommy and daddy will buy it for you because it is the next fad to roll around. Personally i rather have good service...my network never had a dropped call, which is why i switched in the first place. You have to be retard to pay $500-$700 for a phone to begin with, but in a few months it will be outdated as all technology ends up. Too much undeserved hype. Look where Apple is in the personal computer business (or isn't i should say).