The iPhone: 1 Million Served
Just 74 days after it launched, and five days after Apple cut its price by $200, the iPhone sold its 1 millionth unit yesterday. It reached this milestone weeks before Apple had forecast, no doubt pushed over the edge by the many users who were previously on the fence because of price sensitivities.
Indeed, the product proved very elastic, as consumers flocked to stores to pick up iPhones at the new price over the weekend. We’ve said many times here and in our recent mobile forecast that the price will come down (though we didn’t expect it to happen this quickly), and copycat devices will flood the market and compete on price.
As this happens, the new standard that has been set in mobile device interactivity, quality and ease of use will approach ubiquity. Better mobile local search applications will in turn be developed with more incentive to innovate than exists with today’s inferior, and less adopted, WAP environment.
Moore’s Law: Get Used to It
This milestone also follows the effusive torrent of noise made by angry iPhone owners in the wake of the price drop who felt they were screwed, and essentially punished for being early adopters (one blogger went as far as printing T-shirts that read $200 iPhone beta tester).
This is nothing new though (look at flat screen televisions). If you decide the timing of tech product purchases solely on prices continuing to drop, you’ll never buy anything. It’s Moore’s Law in action. Moreover, look at the big picture: A company dropped the price of a device to increase sales and bring it within the reach of a larger market segment. This is a good thing. Stop crying.
Anyway, you probably heard that those outside the 14-day $200 rebate period (including me) will receive a $100 credit at the Apple Store. This is a nice, and unnecessary, gesture by Apple and a good PR move. It’s also smart in that there are probably fewer than ten items at the Apple store that are $100 or less, so these vouchers will in most cases be used toward larger purchases, meaning Apple will recoup much of this cost.
Stay tuned for more coverage and analysis of the iPhone’s penetration and the MoLo development that will follow.
