Tuesday, June 26, 2007

To Buy or Not to Buy: iPhone countdown is on

The amount of hype and media coverage for iPhone is mind boggling. Today one of its first production unit review features as headlines on the New York Times web site.  Not to count the numerous print articles ranging from Wall Street Journal to Fortune and Forbes. At this point, even if iPhone does not revolutionize the cellphone industry, it has definitely done in product launches. I am not sure whether any of the Apple think tank had imagined this amount of publicity and hype. I guess their secretive approach till the product launch has only added fuel to the fire. It used to be a strategy to set lower customer expectations and subsequently ensure customer delight by delivering more than promised. I guess Apple has thrown that model away and revolutionized the industry since HTC followed quickly taunting their multi-touch interface shell as the new breakthrough idea.


I can predict here that iPhone is not going to be iPOD. Industry reviewers like David Progue does his balancing act of identifying the shortcomings of iPhone. Also Apple shares over the last 3-6 months will be a gambling ground for hedge mangers to evaluate their mettle.


I was all set to be one of the first buyers of iPhone but I am now in the 'not so sure' camp. I am more leaning towards Nokia E90.