Apple 3G S lures 1 million
A thirst among shoppers for stylish cellphones that can do more than make calls and take grainy snapshots has helped Apple Inc. ring up sales of more than 1 million units of its high-end iPhone 3G S just three days after the device went on sale, the company reported Monday.
“Even with a down economy, food, shelter, clothing and now smart phones are becoming an essential part of people’s lives,” quipped Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner Inc.
Driving the enthusiasm for smart phones is a desire by consumers to use their handsets for a host of computer-like functions, such as browsing the Internet, sharing photos, updating their status on social networks, playing games with their friends and checking e-mail, Dulaney said.
Apple, which launched its first iPhone two years ago, previously reported it had sold more than 21 million units by March 28. Market research firm ISuppli Corp. projects that by the end of the year, the Cupertino, Calif., company will have carved out 10% of the global market for the fast-growing smart phone category, up from 8.4% last year.
Although mobile handset sales overall are expected to drop 12.3% worldwide, smart phones are projected to grow 11.6%, ISuppli analyst Tina Teng said.
“People are holding on to their phones a lot longer in the bad economy,” Teng said. “But when they do get new phones, they tend to choose smart phones.”
That’s good news not just for Apple, but also for Palm Inc., which released the Palm Pre smart phone June 6. Although Palm has not released sales figures, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky recently issued a report estimating the company will sell more than 2.6 million Palm Pre phones in the next year.
“Smart phones are really on a tear,” Dulaney said. “From May [of] this year to January of next year, you will see more smart-phone announcements than you have ever seen before.”
On Monday, T-Mobile USA Inc. unveiled its myTouch 3G multitasking smart phone with Google Inc.’s latest Android operating system. The carrier has sold more than 1 million of the original Google phones, which were released last fall.
With the latest handset, available late next month, T-Mobile is emphasizing the various ways consumers can customize or, as the carrier calls it, “personalize” their phones -- including through menu options and the array of available Android applications. The phone includes a program called Sherpa that learns about users’ real-world preferences as they visit various restaurants and businesses in their towns and suggests, for instance, new places to go.
Enabling users to add such applications has helped fuel iPhone sales. Consumers have downloaded more than 1 billion applications from Apple’s iTunes online store for their iPhones and iPod Touches.
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who is returning to work this month after a six-month medical leave, boasted in a statement about how applications were driving sales: “iPhone momentum is stronger than ever.”
Apple shares fell $2.11, or 1.5%, to $137.37.
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david.sarno@latimes.com
