Impact of the Apple iPhone on the Mobile Phone Industry

Although the press coverage of the iPhone’s impact has focused on its immediate effects on sales of competing products, the most important effect of the iPhone is its fundamental challenge to mobile phone industry power structures and product strategies. The iPhone calls into question how the mobile industry segments users and designs products, and as such its impact on industry practices may be far greater than its effect on phone sales.


The iPhone is a “candybar” style device (ie, without flip cover or slider). The front of the device is dominated by a touch-sensitive 320×480 screen, and it does not have a physical keypad. It weighs 135 grams: heavy for a simple “feature” phone (which tend to range from 80g to 120g), but light for a “smart” phone (which range from 110g to more than 200g). Hardware features include a quad-band GSM/Edge cellular radio (without 3G), WiFi (802.11 b and g), Bluetooth 2.0, and a two megapixel camera. The iPhone’s hardware features and configuration are comparable to those of other “smartphones” already on the market. For example, the HTC 3600 has a form factor and weight similar to the iPhone. The HTC device lacks 802.11g and has a lower-resolution screen, but has a UMTS (3G) radio, a memory card slot, and two built-in cameras.

Source : www.marshall.usc.edu

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