Support Our Site
Get Better Gear!
- Kensington Windshield/Vent Car Mount with Sound Amplified Cradle for iPhone from Kensington, $39.99
- SigFx Energy iPhone Case Contains Smart Battery from SigFx Energy, US$69.95
- NAVIGON AG - True GPS Software for the iPhone from NAVIGON Inc., 89.99
- Tweetie 2 from atebits, $2.99
- Snood: Flawed Casual Play from Electronic Arts, US$3.99
Premier Sponsors
Top 5 Free Apps
iTunes New Music Releases
Top 5 Paid Apps
Discover New Music
- Spoon
Gimme Fiction by Spoon is a terrific album by an Austin band that I was lucky enough to catch on an Austin radio station during a Christmas visit.
- Alanis Morissette
- Ten years after the original release, comes the traditional celebratory acoustic re-recording. The album has held up remarkably well. While it is not as meaningful to me as it was when I was sixteen,
- Massive Attack
"Black Milk" knocks me off my feet in this collection of moody and eclectic songs. Massive Attack uses samples and keyboards in a very unique way, but not all the songs pack the same punch.
- The Who
Quadrophenia is everything that Tommy wanted to be, a rock opera that told a story, but one where every song could still stand alone. It was also Pete Townshend's farewell tribute to the Mod
- The Dresden Dolls
The energetic duet of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione that make up the Dresden Dolls have created a wonderfully haunting sound in their self-titled album. They have been able to construct an imme
Reader Specials
Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!
News
iPhone and BlackBerry Propel Customer Spending for Smartphones
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 3:00 PM - by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Apple, traditionally a computer company, and another that started out making pagers, Research in Motion, have convinced American buyers that a quality mobile phone is worth paying for, according to Bloomberg News on Thursday.
The results are seen in the sales numbers -- U.S. customers spent 40 percent more for mobile phones in Q3/2007 than they did in 2006. Nowadays, more like those in Europe, Americans seemed to be ready to pay for the top of the line smartphones.
"The iPhone has made the U.S. consumer appreciate the value of the mobile phone," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Gartner Inc.
The NPD Group reported that sales of the more expensive smartphones almost tripled last quarter and have jumped dramatically since 2005. The sales results have also been good for the share prices of Apple and RIM.
Apple and RIM appear to have learned the lesson from Motorola which saw its once US$500 RAZR cheapened in the eyes of consumers by the carriers. That led to increasingly dismal results for Motorola and the ouster of Ed Zander. "That will change if manufacturers can keep coming up with really, really cool devices," said Roger Entner of IAG Research. "In the U.S., there are very few phones that are status symbols. Even as demand increases, the handset needs to be really, really attractive to succeed."
The sensational performance by Apple may cause a shift in the strategy by its competitors. From now on, they may also lean more towards approaching the customer directly instead of working through the carriers.
Now all they have to do is convince customers and reviewers that their smartphone is as good as Apple’s.
Recent Headlines
- Apple TV 3.0.1 Update Fixes Missing Content Bug
- Taiwan Leak Shows Verizon UTMS/CDMA iPhone for Q3 2010
- iPhone Moves Into RadioShack
- Dictionary, Dictionary, Dictionary, And More
- The Latest App Store Games: Gravity Sling, RocketBird, Ground Effect, Checkers!
- iPhone Game Developer Sued for Collecting User’s Cell Numbers
- Apple May Be Bringing RFID to the iPhone
Post Your Comments