The hype is more evidence that the U.S. media is pathetically incompetent. OK, I think the iPhone is a revolutionary product, in a market where change is mostly evolutionary. Even though I think it will have a great impact on the phone business, it probably still isn't worth of all of the attention it has received. But what do you expect from the media that sold us the war and the war president, with hardly any editing of that PR team's news releases?
All that being said, I think there are some misleading stories being published, like for instance the WSJ column that said the 30% increase in Apple's market value was due solely to the iPhone. What about the rest of their product line? Are all other companies whose stock prices have gone up as much or more announcing new products like this? Of course not. Even without the iphone, Apple stock would have increased in value, as sales of their existing products have been increasing. When they announced they would be selling songs without DRM, the stock price also went up. It is completely disingenuous to attribute the rise in Apple shares solely to the iPhone.
In the same article, the WSJ claimed that Nokia will sell 550 million phones by the end of 2008. What's their start date for that total? That would imply they sell almost 380 million phones per year, which is close to the total world wide market. also, their phones don't have an average price of $550, which is probably what Apple will get for their only phones (although I expect they will introduce lower cost versions well before the end of 2008 to achieve those projected volumes). and not only does the iPhone cost more than most of Nokia's phones, but their profit margins are much higher, which results in higher profits, which justifies an increased market value. I won't get into the math, but the WSJ article exaggerated Nokia's phone sales and underestimated Apple's profits from the new phone. (disclosure: I own stock in both Apple and Nokia. People love cell phones, and as long as they keep coming out with new ones that are better, they will throw their old ones out and buy new ones).
Jack's piece also quoted Josh Quittner as saying only people who are rich or gadget freaks will buy the iphone. He's right, but so what? There are more than 10 million of those people spread around the world.
So I don't know where the anger at the hype is being directed, but don't take it out on Apple or their great new product (or their stock price, please). I think the media should spend more time investigating the vice president and his involvement in all of the country's disasters the last six years and less time talking about phones and drunken celebrities.
