News

Apple Takes 1.8% of the Cell Phone Market [Updated]

Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 at 12:15 PM - by

Apple CEO Steve Jobs set a goal of taking one percent of the cell phone market with the iPhone, which is exactly what the company did in July. Not only did Apple reach its market share goal, it exceeded it to grab 1.8 percent of the market, according to Reuters.

According to statistics from the market analysis firm iSuppli, Apple's combination iPod and smart phone sold more units than RIM's Blackberry products, Palm's handheld products, and any individual smart phone model from Samsung, Motorola, or Nokia.

iSuppli commented "Apple achieved this in the face of numerous, well-entrenched competitors," and also noted that one in four iPhone buyers switched to AT&T from other carriers. AT&T is the exclusive cell service provider for the iPhone in the U.S.

The analysis firm expects Apple will sell 4.5 million iPhones in 2007, and will top 30 million in 2008. If the iSuppli sales figures hold up, the Cupertino-based company is well on its way to meeting those goals.

July was the first full month Apple's iPhone was available for purchase, and it was available only in the United States.

[This article has been updated for clarity.]

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:18 pm

That was not 1% of the smartphone market, but Jobs said 1% of the MOBILE PHONE market....

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Sep 04, 2007 6:03 pm

This 'article' is wrong, Apple have not taken 1.8% of the cell phone market. The Reuters story clearly states they were responsible for 1.8% of handset sales in July. That does not equate to 1.8% market share!

Assume for a moment that all handset makers didn't sell a single phone next month, except for Nokia. Imagine Nokia sell 1 phone. That's 100% of next months sales. That does not mean Nokia suddenly have a 100% market share.

Someone needs to go back to school. I used to subscribe to this site's RSS feed and read it every day. After reading this pathetic excuse for an article, I wont be coming back again.

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gslusher said:

member since 13 Nov 2002 with 2088 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 04, 2007 9:24 pm

Guest wrote:
That was not 1% of the smartphone market, but Jobs said 1% of the MOBILE PHONE market....

That is, indeed, what the article says--1.8% of mobile handsets. Since the article claims that the iPhone outsold the BlackBerries, it would have to be much more than 1.8% of smartphones.

Guest wrote:
This 'article' is wrong, Apple have not taken 1.8% of the cell phone market. The Reuters story clearly states they were responsible for 1.8% of handset sales in July. That does not equate to 1.8% market share!

Assume for a moment that all handset makers didn't sell a single phone next month, except for Nokia. Imagine Nokia sell 1 phone. That's 100% of next months sales. That does not mean Nokia suddenly have a 100% market share.

Someone needs to go back to school. I used to subscribe to this site's RSS feed and read it every day. After reading this pathetic excuse for an article, I wont be coming back again.

A little education may be in order. "Market share" is based upon sales in a particular time period, not the installed base. That's been a serious complaint about references to Apple's low "market share" for computers. Mac owners tend to keep their Macs longer than Windows PC owners, so the installed base is larger than the market share would indicate.

OTOH, from the article: "ISuppli gathered its data through a consumer survey of 2 million participants in the United States that it carries out online once a month."

Many smartphones are not bought by consumers but by businesses.

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A guest said: (hide)

Thu Sep 06, 2007 12:23 pm

I don't htink anyone really cares about the market share of the iPhone in it's first month on the market. With the hype, everyone knew they would sell. What matters is what Jobs spoke about, 1% of the market in 2008. Market share is sales over a given period, but looking at the market share of any phone only in the month it launched only tells you how successful the launch was, not the longevity of the phone.

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:29 am

I don't believe that what Steve Jobs mentioned was 1% of the US cell phone market, i think he was talking about global market, and having that in mind apple hasn't achieved that. Maybe in 2008 but not before. The competition isn't sleeping either. So it will be a tough job...

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