Report: iPhone could make or break Apple's bank

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  • Reply 21 of 131
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GQB View Post


    ummm, at the risk of flogging the proverbial deceased equine, its not released (nor probably even feature frozen) yet. We don't know what is or isn't in the final release.



    As for killer app, does any phone have 'personal blacklisting'?

    Voice spammer burns me once, but with one click I prevent future calls from even getting to my voicemail. Seems simple enough, and boy, would I love that.



    I think you answered your second paragraph with your first
  • Reply 22 of 131
    desarcdesarc Posts: 642member
    i agree about voice dialing.

    if i'm driving i need to be able to press a button on a headset, say a name, and that's it.

    i can't be trying to use a NON-TACTILE phone to make calls while driving.

    i can't believe apple would leave this feature out.



    as for this topic... apple profit on iPhone vs. apple profit on iPod?

    yeah, they're doomed if people can choose to upgrade to a product with a bigger profit margin. just doomed.

    if only the topic were "expert says iPhone will either hurt, help, or not affect apple profit"
  • Reply 23 of 131
    noirdesirnoirdesir Posts: 1,027member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cnocbui View Post


    The iPhone is only a viable replacement/substitute for the shuffle or nano - not the 'real' iPods with HD's It just hasn't got enough capacity.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    Maybe some but not many. [...] Maybe one day when an iPhone has a massive storage capacity?



    I absolutely agree. Mainly nano user might consider leaving their nanos at home and only travel with their iPhone. I was thinking longer term when iPhones had a large enough capacity.



    The only reason why I might not get an iPhone right away (apart from money) is its size. My cellphone is always in my trousers pocket, in order for me to be able to notice the vibrational alarm. As long as their are cell-phones smaller than an iPhone, I guess I will prefer them. Once the iPhone shrinks to the size of the nano, I'll definitely get one, regardless of price.
  • Reply 24 of 131
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GQB View Post


    As for killer app, does any phone have 'personal blacklisting'?

    Voice spammer burns me once, but with one click I prevent future calls from even getting to my voicemail. Seems simple enough, and boy, would I love that.



    Now that you mention it, i'd love to have an option--like with AIM--to only receive calls from people in my Address Book.
  • Reply 25 of 131
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TheToe View Post


    They really might not want to take their $500 iPhone out on the bike trail for some blading... when they could take a relatively cheap, unobtrusive Shuffle instead.



    And another phone? Some people originally bought their first mobile phone partly because they want something in case of roadside emergencies in their car. If you take a nasty fall in a secluded part of a park, then one might want a phone to take along. While we're at it, any phone that plays music can be good enough if it just needs to make a call and play tunes.
  • Reply 26 of 131
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    Ok you are forgiven



    Thinking about this further ... this is a Mac of sorts, hard to believe some bright spark won't add this feature later.



    Just wait until all of the major auto companies start talking about iPhone integration..
  • Reply 27 of 131
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Just wait until all of the major auto companies start talking about iPhone integration..



    BMW has already mentioned it. They should have it by the time the iPhone ships. As for the other manufacurers and 3rd-party stereo manufactuers, it won't be hard to do since the dongle is exactly the same. Just a software change, which I'm sure Apple is more than willing to help out with.





    PS: Has anyone heard of Zune integration in cars? Iam getting ahead of myself here, I should be asking if anyone even knows someone with a Zune.
  • Reply 28 of 131
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    BMW has already mentioned it. They should have it by the time the iPhone ships. As for the other manufacurers and 3rd-party stereo manufactuers, it won't be hard to do since the dongle is exactly the same. Just a software change, which I'm sure Apple is more than willing to help out with.





    PS: Has anyone heard of Zune integration in cars? Iam getting ahead of myself here, I should be asking if anyone even knows someone with a Zune.



    I think the Russians have put together a Lada with Zune.
  • Reply 29 of 131
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    BMW has already mentioned it. They should have it by the time the iPhone ships. As for the other manufacurers and 3rd-party stereo manufactuers, it won't be hard to do since the dongle is exactly the same. Just a software change, which I'm sure Apple is more than willing to help out with.



    Was there any change at all? The most I can think of is maybe adding more functionality, but I'd think that existing units should work just fine if Apple was smart enough to keep backwards compatibility. If I spent hundreds of dollars on iPod integration, I would not want to spend hundreds more just to make the existing system work with a new device in the same product line.
  • Reply 30 of 131
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TheToe View Post


    I for one have always thought iPods were useless. I have no need for one and frankly can't understand why people spend so much money on them.



    I am a real music lover and I think the iPod is one of the best things to ever happen in music playback systems.



    So much money? An iPod can replace what used to be your walkman, your in car CD changer and your home Hi-Fi's CD player. Compared to the combined cost of these three products an iPod is cheap!



    This is exactly how I use mine. I guess if you don't listen to music much an iPod could be useless.
  • Reply 31 of 131
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    I think the Russians have put together a Lada with Zune.



    And I here that the French have put together a Renault and a Zune.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    Was there any change at all? The most I can think of is maybe adding more functionality, but I'd think that existing units should work just fine if Apple was smart enough to keep backwards compatibility. If I spent hundreds of dollars on iPod integration, I would not want to spend hundreds more just to make the existing system work with a new device in the same product line.



    I would hope so, but since it uses a different OS I have no way of knowing if they were able to keep it that simple. I've considered that they found it easier to make all the software changes in iTunes instead of altering how the iPhones transmits/recieves audio info.
  • Reply 32 of 131
    lfe2211lfe2211 Posts: 507member
    Yet another shoddy headline by AI. Where in the analyst's words does he say verbatim " iPhone could make or break Apple's bank". AI does no't seem to understand that it''s headlines are often cited on financial sites like Forbes, Google, WSJ, NYT, IBD, Yahoo,etc and that people who peruse those sites often don't read the cited articles, they just note the headline. In this case, AI (a well known Apple evangelist site) has created a headline with a negative connotation. This is , IMO, shoddy journalism.



    Moving on from my rant on yet another poor AI headline, since one iPhone equals one cell phone plus one Ipod, some of the relevant financial questions are;



    *What are the profit margins on the cell phone part of the iPhone?

    *How many iPhones will Apple sell?



    New additional Apple profit equals profit margin on the cell phone part of the iPhone times the number of iPhones sold.



    *What are the profit margins on the Ipod part of the iPhone?

    *How do the profit margins on the Ipod part of the iPhone compare to a "regular" Ipod?



    Apple hardware Ipod profit then equals [profit margin per iPhone Ipod times number of iPhones sold] PLUS [Ipod profit margin on "regular" Ipods times number of "regular" Ipods sold].



    Finally, one has to ask whether the iPhone will boost iTunes sales. While this is unknown at this point in time, assuming that iPhone owners will have ready access to the iTunes store, will they buy more music and/or videos while at work, at play, in the airport, at a boring wedding reception, at the in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner,etc ?
  • Reply 33 of 131
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    .....
  • Reply 34 of 131
    iq78iq78 Posts: 256member
    What is being said here doesn't make sense, as many others have mentioned. Here's a few simple reasons why.



    1) If you cannabilize one of your other products with one that makes you more money, then you are doing your job. If you do it with one that makes you less money, then you have problems. Cannabilization can hurt you if a lower margin product eats away at your higher margin products. I mean geez, is this stuff really that hard for analyst to figure out?



    2) As stated, they expect the iPhone to maybe gain 1% of the mobile phone market? Doesn't that like leave 99% of the mobile phone market as potential iPod customers even if you make the poor assumption that every iPhone customer won't buy an iPod? How do they lose here, because the only way they could eat away more iPod market share is to grow the 1% to so 5%, and if they do that (which they won't) then they'll nearly own the world.



    Am I missing something here?



    IQ78
  • Reply 35 of 131
    The headline suggests the the iPhone has the potential to bankrupt Apple. That's absurd at face value.
  • Reply 36 of 131
    bocboc Posts: 72member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    And AAPL isn't also gaining because of the best laptops on the market, Intel Macs with Parallels, new OS Leopard due soon and new 8 core, new FCPro Suite due and new CS3 and ... Oh sorry it's just due to iPhone how silly of me ...



    Yeah, it is odd. Mac CPU sales up 72% year over year in March, and an iPhone that doesn't perform well will sink Apple to the bottom of the barrel. Jeesh.



    Lets see, I have 3-4 functioning Mac laptops and a couple desktops (if a Mac Mini qualifies). Then I have a couple iPods (not counting the ones I've given away). iPods can be used for so many things that a cellphone is not going to get me to dump the iPods. In fact, I may get a Shuffle just for audio books/podcasts when traveling.



    I really think some of these analysts spend too much time talking to other analysts rather than finding out how people REALLY use technology.



    For me and other people I have talked to about the iPhone, the main reason to buy an iPhone has NOTHING whatever to do with SONGS!



    iPhone represents the clean integration between a Mac and the Internet capability that has people stoked. Secondly with the prospect of communcations & computing power in your pocket on little applications means that you can leave your laptop at home or work during lunch.
  • Reply 37 of 131
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BoC View Post


    Yeah, it is odd. Mac CPU sales up 72% year over year in March, and an iPhone that doesn't perform well will sink Apple to the bottom of the barrel. Jeesh.



    Lets see, I have 3-4 functioning Mac laptops and a couple desktops (if a Mac Mini qualifies). Then I have a couple iPods (not counting the ones I've given away). iPods can be used for so many things that a cellphone is not going to get me to dump the iPods. In fact, I may get a Shuffle just for audio books/podcasts when traveling.



    I really think some of these analysts spend too much time talking to other analysts rather than finding out how people REALLY use technology.



    For me and other people I have talked to about the iPhone, the main reason to buy an iPhone has NOTHING whatever to do with SONGS!



    iPhone represents the clean integration between a Mac and the Internet capability that has people stoked. Secondly with the prospect of communcations & computing power in your pocket on little applications means that you can leave your laptop at home or work during lunch.



    Cpu sales are up 72% since last March? Where are you getting your numbers from? Apple hasn't even announced the numbers yet.
  • Reply 38 of 131
    desarcdesarc Posts: 642member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BoC View Post


    Yeah, it is odd. Mac CPU sales up 72% year over year in March, and an iPhone that doesn't perform well will sink Apple to the bottom of the barrel. Jeesh.

    ... ... ...

    For me and other people I have talked to about the iPhone, the main reason to buy an iPhone has NOTHING whatever to do with SONGS!



    nothing? it's an iPod video with a phone. that's HALF songs/videos. i don't care about surfing the net on a tiny screen, having to zoom in and out of web pages.



    i want a "convergence device" or all-in-one or whatever they're being called for one simple reason:

    Less Stuff to carry in my front pocket. eventually they will get to where i WISH they were, but the iPhone is good enough for me to buy in now.
  • Reply 39 of 131
    jamezogjamezog Posts: 163member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tundraboy View Post


    You want a company that doesn't do a good job of cannibalizing its own product? Take a look at Motorola and it's boom and bust cell phone cycle.



    I'm just wondering - how many people out there currently have either a smartphone or a phone that has "decent" music playback features, AS WELL AS an iPod? Chances are, there's a good piece of the market that will end up having an iPod (especially once the widescreen iPod comes out) as well as an iPhone. They're similar devices, and there will likely be some cannibalization, but I don't think it'll be significant.



    Besides, do these "analysts" REALLY think that Steve didn't consider this yet?
  • Reply 40 of 131
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    Maybe the iPhone will break Apple's bank by stuffing it

    full of so much money the doors blow out.
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