iPhone outsells 'smart' rivals

Last Modified: 05 Sep 2007
By: Channel 4 News

It was one of the most eagerly awaited gadgets ever, and now it's become the most popular of its kind.

The Apple iPhone was launched in the United States in June, after an enormous barrage of publicity, and is expected in the UK in time for the Christmas season.

Apple has achieved this substantial sale despite the phone's numerous technical shortcomings - it has a slow internet connection, for example, and many users have complained about battery life.

And now research from the US has shown that the phone has outsold all the others in its category.

According to a study of two million comsumers by iSuppli, the iPhone accounted for 1.8 per cent of all mobile phones sales in July, its first full month of sales.

This may not sound like much, but it has outsold every other make of the advanced handsets known in the trade as 'smartphones' - including companies with a decades of mobile phone experience, such as Sony Ericsson and Nokia.

Massive sales in the first month are partly a consequence of pent-up demand - tech enthusiasts camped outside stores overnight to get their hands on an iPhone on the day of launch. So these sale rates may be difficult to sustain over more months.

But Apple has achieved this substantial sale despite the phone's numerous technical shortcomings - it has a slow internet connection, for example, and many users have complained about battery life.

But there can be no doubt now that Apple is a serious player in the mobile phone business. It's ambitious target of selling 4.5 million phones this year is looking very acheivable.