iphone

iPhone

Apple has released the iphone (Reuters, CNET). Amidst all the talk of the phone failing tests with consumers and being too slow, Apple did release at the Macworld event. At $499-$599 but if it does all the things people want it to doe decently well, the phone will be difficult to stop. Cingular is the only service offering it now I believe but others may soon follow suit. This would be a direct challenge for Sony Ericsson to come up trumps with even better phones. Right now I think their elegantly designed phones are way too much value for money, but an apple product is well an apple product. With the continued image management from the folks at Apple, computers would be dropped from their name. Well, they are the gods of image management, so expect some more marketing on these lines.

Overall, I think this would be quite a test for apple. Design is one thing, but offering a robust working phone is another. Apple stock is up, so the market likes it. And the market is never wrong J