cthree

I think it will. People love to underestimate Apple but I think that's a mistake. A billion dollars in really snazzy advertising and a 99.999% pure gold iPod brand would have me a little more than concerned. Apple has $12 billion in cash lest you forget and they have no problem getting out effective advertising.

Features don't sell phones, coolness does and there is no consumer electronic brand more cool right now than iPod and Apple.

Though that's not really the point. It's more about saying stupid shit.

Zonie

I think you misunderstood Samsung's position.

When a competitor enters your market, you have to use it to your advantage any way you can. Apple's entrance dilutes an already fragmented market. Samsung can actually build on this because (1) it shows the investment community that being in that line of business was the right thing to do and (2) they were there FIRST.

Don't be so quick to dismiss Samsung either. They have very low operating costs and a scale of economy that I doubt Apple can compete with. As for iPod, it didn't revolutionize anything... Apple just marketed it better. Period. I don't think Samsung will yield to an iPhone quite as willingly.

kumainu

Revolutionize: to change fundamentally or completely <revolutionize an industry>.

I'd beg to differ. iPod did revolutionize the mp3/digital music market when it came out years ago. People bought millions of them when digital music market was still very fresh and most people didn't even know what a digital mp3 player was. It made other companies produce their own versions of digital music players. iPod might not have been the very first player produced, but it did revolutionize the market. Even 'til this day, it owns the majority of the market. That is revolution.

cthree

I'm not dismissing anyone but Samsung and Palm seem to be and that's dangerous and even stupid thing to do when you are talking about that competitor being a franchise as powerful as Apple/iPod is right now. They are hot where it counts, The people who are buying iPods by the basket load are the same demographic buying music phones. What slim foothold Samsung or LG or even Nokia might have on that segment is microscopic compared to iPod/iTunes. We are talking about a media player that replaces the phone not a phone that replaces the media player. iPod+phone, iPhone if you like but it won't be called that.

Samsung will continue to sell phones but don't expect people to be lining up around the block to buy them the way they will to buy iPhone. Again this is about being able to carry your iPod around without having to also carry a phone (Apple). It's not about carrying a phone that does double duty (everyone else). IMO of course.

meth

i expect this phone to come with some software to sync all those nifty apple programs in ilife. if it does, which i expect it to, and if also a full blown ipod on top of that i expect these to be sold out everywhere with all the apple whores around.

hell, all the pro apple people would buy it even if it was just mediocre. IMO.

if it comes in black, you can put me down for one.

KerryF

Ding ding ding! We have a winner.

Competition is good. More advertising (No matter who's doing it) = More products sold (Including your competitors).

There's absolutely nothing wrong with their position. They're probably well aware of where they'll sit when Apple enters the market, and how many units they'll sell. Apple entering the market is good for all involved.

TheDonEffect

Aapl doesn't tend to do well when the competition is fierce. There was a time when almost all schools and businesses ran Apple computers simple because Apples presented their products as easy to use, efficient machines. As consumers became more educated and technologically savvy while competitors producing better and more cost effective machines, Apple took a nose dive in that market. Dell basically owns that market.
Apples resurgence came from again focusing on markets where competition isn't strong: they entered the laptop business with great products (Powerbook) with technology that wasn't matched until the Intel Centrino systems were developed. They also entered the mp3 player market with the first hd mp3 player and not to mention ITunes was a resounding success. All of these markets however didn't have stiff competition. Fortunately for Apple, they branded very well and now still live off the momentum of those products.
Now Apple is entering a market that already has established players and stiff competition... I'm sure it'll sell decent enough but I think Samsung has no need to worry. The way I see it, it'll be like Apple introducing their line of printers and copiers, therefore competing againstg Lexmark, HP, etc.

kumainu

Truth be told, I still haven't read up on the iPhone's features and stuff. I have no clue what it'll be like. I'm sure it'll do well.

cthree

Nobody knows anything, it's pure speculation which is often wrong in regards to Apple. Everyone "assumes" they will bring out a phone on January 9th but that haven't said that and they haven't said the will release it then or if they are even planning to release one. Everyone says they will, even their competitors but Apple has said "we don't discuss unannounced products", period.

On January 9th this is what I "think" will happen. Steve will come out talk about how great Apple is doing and how many iPods they sold and how many iTunes songs and movies were downloaded. He might show a new commercial. After that he will talk about Leopard. When it was shown in the summer he said it was just a teaser of some of the new things. I suspect he'll close the loop and show us the good stuff just to give Vista a kick in the nuts.

From Leopard he'll talk about the iTV box, do a demo and announce the price and when it will go on sale. Then he'll say "and just one more thing", the crowd of faithful will roar and cheer and then he'll intro the iPod Nano + phone.

We'll see how close I am on January 9th.

meth

he should be like "oh shit, who the hell is calling me in the middle of my keynote!" then BAM, bust out the phone.