With the 3G iPhone coming soon in a store near you, Apple
doesn’t have to worry anymore about its target sales. Back in 2007, when Steve
Jobs announced at MacWorld that the company aims to sell 10 million units until
the end of 2008, many analysts were doubtful.
However, since the official launch, almost one year ago,
Apple has sold 5 million units and its gadget was available only in the US and few
European countries. Also it has had quite a stiff price for a phone. But now Apple is changing its strategy: the
new 3G iPhone will cost only $199 (probably 199 euros in Europe),
which is a very good price for a phone that has so many features.
Earlier this month, the research company Gartner revealed
that Apple has already an established position in the smartphone market.
According to the data released by Gartner, Apple is the
second biggest smartphone maker in US and it has achieved number three
worldwide.
Of course, Nokia is still the market leader with an
impressive 45.2 percent of the market in the worldwide market and there is RIM,
which gained the second spot with a share of 13.4 percent.
What is quite impressive is that Apple has built its share
by starting practically from zero, as the company didn’t have any cell phone
prior its iPhone.
So, knowing all these details, it seems like during the next
year Apple is ready to threaten Nokia’s leadership.
The analysts have already started to estimate how many
iPhones Apple will sell during the next year and, according to Fortune,
the estimations are ranging from 10 million to 55 million units. Of course,
their forecasts could be wrong, but it will be interesting to see Apple compete
against Nokia during the next year.
On the other hand, Nokia hinted that it will release its
first touch screen phone. In April, Tom Libretto, vice president of Forum
Nokia, confirmed that the Finnish company is working on a new phone, a touch
screen, called for the moment Tube.
According to Libretto, the Nokia Tube will include also a
feature that will allow its users to upload to the web, which means that the
new device will integrate Wi-Fi or HSDPA connectivity. Unfortunately, Libretto
did not indicate any release timeframe for this new phone.
However, it seems like 2008 will be an interesting year for
the smartphone market.
