Friday, June 13th, 2008
All right, time for my take on the latest iPhone announcements. The big lesson: SMS and email will remain most important for those who want to reach iPhone-using consumers.
At first glance, you might think, “No, Web ads will reach iPhone users best.” A logical conclusion, given the way Apple is focused on changing mobile Internet the way it changed digital music. But I disagree, and believe older messaging technologies will stay relevant for iPhone users.
First, consider the impact of the hotly-anticipated price break. Handsets will start at $199 for an 8-gigabyte model, so Apple needs another way to reap revenue on its high-margin gadget. To that end, AT&T is subsidizing the lowered prices—but is increasing its iPhone data plans by about $10 per month. Since it will cost more to use mobile Internet, consumers might not want to spend as much time online with their phones—and thus could be less likely stop and look at ads, or let themselves be directed to websites they didn’t intend on viewing when they turned that iPhone on.















