Research firms say consumers will balk at price, commitment
Price and commitment for an iPhone may initially turn off users.
Iphone, which is set to be launched this Friday by Apple and AT&T, will find strong demand among early adopter technophiles, but building an immediate larger market may be difficult because of the device’s $500 price tag and two-year service commitment, according to Parks Associates.
Parks conducted a survey of 2,000 U.S. Internet users and found that only 3% of these consumers have a strong interest in purchasing the iPhone at its price point and contract commitment.
“The underlying drivers for converging music, multimedia and communications capabilities in a device such as an iPhone are certainly prevalent in today’s market,” said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates.
“However, the high price point may prevent the iPhone from achieving greater adoption over the short term. It may be an early adopter product that appeals to technophiles but initially leaves other interested users on the outside looking in.” “The iPhone: A Consumer Perspective” is a free white paper available for download at www.parksassociates.com. It pulls primary consumer data from Parks Associates’ consumer study Mobile Entertainment Platforms & Services (second edition).
Another research firm, Compete, also said consumers might balk at iPhone’s $500 price tag.
IT research and consulting firm Gartner is discouraging enterprises from adopting iPhone because, the firm says, Apple has no plans to support enterprise use of the device – even though AT&T plans to market it to businesses. See here >> and here >>.
Nonetheless, AT&T has hired 2,000 temporary workers in its retail stores to handle what is expected to be a consumer surge for the iPhone at Friday’s 6 p.m. launch. The carriers said it received 1 million inquiries on iPhone, 40% from non-AT&T wireless service subscribers.
AT&T is offering three plans for the iPhone: $60 for 450 minutes of cellular talk time a month, $80 for 900 minutes a month, and $100 for 1,350 minutes a month. All of those plans include access to e-mail and mobile Web services, visual voicemail and 200 text messages.
In addition to the two-year service commitment, users will be required to pay a $36 activation fee.
