Brian Lam is putting himself on the line claiming that the iPhone is coming out this Monday, and he says that it has surprised him – presumably after having a close look at the model. Brian Lam is a fellow blogger but his prediction is against high-powered expert opinion in the likes of Morgan Stanley’s Rebecca Runkle:
“While we view the supplier list, build forecast and exact launch timing as dynamic over the next month, our recent supply chain conversations give us high conviction in a [first half 2007] iPhone launch…. We expect Steve Jobs to announce the iPhone at Macworld or in a separate event early next year.”
She even had a different pricing for the iPhones: $599 (4 GB) and $649 (8 GB), a lot pricier than an earlier prediction by Kevin Rose. It’s Runkle’s opinion that one carrier will be launching the iPhone, probably Cingular, and not everybody as Rose had claimed. A metal casing and a click-wheel is highly likely.
But perhaps the most important prediction is the lack of 3G connectivity in the very first iPhone. Coming from unnamed sources, the Apple phone will be a GSM handset with EDGE. This, however, will be possible to make the iPhone smaller. This makes sense, as Apple’s advantage is not in wireless phone technology but in portable music players: the industry will find an iPod phone easier to absorb than an Apple phone with iPod.
Lastly, according to CNNMoney, the iPhone could be a godsend to handset manufacturers as it will bring the handsets themselves front and center in a market that puts most of the pricing power to the carriers.
Comments (1)
There is no real asymmetry. ,
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