Get Better Gear!

Premier Sponsors

TechRestore

Other World Computing

Top 5 Free Apps

Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: May 22, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: August 29, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Release Date: August 07, 2009

iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

Top 5 Paid Apps

Release Date: April 22, 2009
StickWars $0.99
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
Bloons $0.99
Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • The Last 5 Years (2002 Off-Broadway Cast)

    • 10 out of 10
    • Jason Robert Brown
    • The soundtrack to this moving off-broadway musical is heart moving. The lyrics follow a couple in a relationship for five years, one point of view going forward in time, and the other tracing time fr
  • Life's Rich Pageant

    • 8 out of 10
    • R.E.M.
    • In the long series of R.E.M.'s evolution, this album (finally?) showcases their ability to capture on tape what had been happening in the live for years: heartfelt, sweat-filled performances that just
  • Zooropa

    • 10 out of 10
    • U2
    • This record is perhaps U2's finest hour, yet it has been forgotten as a strange by-product of the ZooTV tour's overload, and is generally regarded by most fans as a poor effort. It is this sentiment t
  • Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

    • 8 out of 10
    • Arctic Monkeys
    • Get on your dancing shoes
      You sexy little swine

      -Arctic

  • Pretty Hate Machine

    • 8 out of 10
    • Nine Inch Nails
    • For years I wanted to make music that sounded like something between Love and Rockets and Ministry. In 1989, Trent Reznor beat me to it with this genre-defining album, and it smacked me upside the hea

Reader Specials

Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!

News

BW: iPhone Starting to Take A Toll - on Competition and Apple

The Apple iPhone sent ripples through the mobile phone industry in the summer of 2007. This summer’s launch of the iPhone 3G is doing the same, and the impact of the combination smartphone and iPod is now starting to be assessed, according to BusinessWeek.

The lower cost of the new iPhone 3G and the hand-me-down effect of iPhone 2Gs that have been replaced by upgraders to the 3G model are the major effects.

Analysts are looking at the percentage of iPhone 2G users who are upgrading, and the fraction is significant. That Apple has been able to convert so many users to a new version in just 12 months is remarkable, given that in the U.S. market, the average user replaces a mobile phone every 17.7 months.

However, it’s not all good news for AT&T because many of those old iPhone 2Gs end up being unlocked and wind up on a competing carrier’s network. Only about 10 percent of the iPhones surveyed on eBay have been advertised as still linked to AT&T.

Apple also has a problem with second hand and inexpensive iPhone 3Gs (out of the box) competing with their iPods according to Charles Wolf with Needham and Co. Every "At Christmas, every teenager in America is going to want one," he said. Mr. Wolf thinks that Apple will have to address that issue with new iPods this fall. [Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster believes an announcement could come as early as early September.

While some mobile phone manufacturers appear to be affected by the iPhone, notably Samsung overall, others seem to be riding the iPhone wave, and even some specific Samsung phones like the Instinct. LG has gained some share as well with the Voyager and the Dare.

Analysts and observers are continuing to search for patterns, but they are complex, especially in the consumer market given all the variables, products and competitors. With Apple reportedly ramping up iPhone production and about to change the iPod lineup to adjust for cannibalization, it may be 2009 before the impact of the iPhone on both Apple and competitors is fully understood.

Post Your Comments

  Remember Me  Forgot your password?

Not a member? Register now. You can post comments without logging in, but they'll show up as a "guest" post.

Commenting is not available in this section entry.