With most of the geek world squealing with excitement over Apple’s iPhone in the wake of its debut last June, the real purpose of the tech-gadget was sort of forgotten.
And no, that purpose had nothing to do with advancing touch-screen technology or unifying a wireless phone with an mp3 music player or even giving us Internet access with a legitimate browser.
The iPhone was created to generate sales and fatten the bottom line for Apple and its wireless partner in the deal, AT&T. And it definitely has done its job.
Apple reported record earnings earlier this week, and AT&T today reported strong earnings of its own and record gains in wireless subscribers.
In fact, the telecommunications giant now claims 70.1 million wireless subscribers. That means that AT&T claims about a quarter of the nation’s population as wireless subscribers.
That’s a gain of 2.7 million in the fourth quarter, which is in addition to the 1.7 million subscribers the company gained in its acquisition of Oklahoma City-based Dobson Communications Corp., which closed in November.
AT&T revealed that it had just under 2 million iPhone users at the end of December.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs told a Macworld Expo audience last week that Apple had sold almost 4 million iPhones, which makes me wonder how much of that number were hacked by their owners to use with other wireless carriers.
So, now the world awaits the release of a so-called 3G iPhone, which would speed up all of its wireless features over the 2G model in the hands of subscribers today. When the 3G model hits, I predict the geek lovefest will begin anew.
Maybe it should happen on Valentine’s Day.
Jim Stafford
Business News Reporter