Why The iPhone Is Revolutionary…

Posted on January 11th, 2007 by Simon Chen

Apple couldn’t buy the publicity it has received since the launch of it’s iPhone 24 hours ago.

Blogs are packed. Newspapers and newswires all over the world are full of opinion. Analysts and investment houses are salivating like Pavlovs dog. And Steve Jobs, Apple’s founder is doing a brilliant job as the conductor of the orchestra.

And don’t believe any of the crap that competitors like Nokia, Motorola and Samsung aren’t worried. I bet you they are shitting themselves.

Not because they’ll be too worried about losing double digit marketshare. But because Apple will be hugely profitable right out of the gate with the device. In today’s market, most of the manufacturers heavily subsidise handset sales, and this has eroded margin to an almost anorexic level.

Apple on the other hand are going to charge either US$499 or US$599 - take it or leave it.

Trust me - they’ll walk out the door. People will prepay. They’ll queue. They’ll plead.

Apple’s strategy of launching in the US is right - despite my selfishness in wanting the product here in Asia sooner rather than later.

I also think that Apple will produce a 3G version of the product - even if it takes them a little longer to get their heads around it and to find the right partner.

I bet local carriers in Asia have people on aeroplanes this week to California to put their case to Apple and to work out product delivery timelines.

Our mobile content product - MarketStream is a wireless financial data product that has been designed to use on most of today’s existing handset base, including the 3G handsets. I’ll be insisting that the development team work out a way to ensure our product works on the new Apple device.

Despite the hype - Apple’s foray into the mobile space will absolutely, categorically revolutionise the market. And I’m betting the baby boomer market will be one of the strongest advocates of the device for one simple reason.

Usability.

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