iphoneapplab.com

As of today as many have seen on some of the Mac news sites Apple has released a portal for iPhone and iTouch users to find neat applications designed specifically for the iPhone. Apple has been working on this for a couple months now, inviting developers of applications to join secretly so that when they launched there would be a key of applications available. iRibbit was one of those invited to be included and we are very excited.

Check out the iRibbit listing and others at www.apple.com/webapps

In a personal note to all early adopters of the iPhone, Steve Jobs has stated that next week Apple will provide details on how these patrons can redeem a 100$ credit at Apple stores.  You can read the letter to iPhone purchasers here:

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/openiphoneletter/

In a conversation earlier today with one of our beta testers we were discussing the amount of the drop in price of the iPhone - $200.  This is a significant drop of 30% of the retail price of the phone.  Not only does this allow Apple to get an early start on being added to all the xmas wish lists out there but it is a perfect play in the cell phone market for attaining new customers.  In the cell phone market it is standard to sign a 12 month or longer contract with providers that has a nice early exit clause.  Most of these exit clauses require a exit payment of 100$ to 200$ to leave the contract early.  So in one fell swoop Apple has said to these consumers “why wait to switch and get your iPhone”.  Now Apple will essentially cover the early termination fee with the iPhone discount.  A great strategy indeed to get a wave of new iPhone purchasers.

Just in case you were curious, it looks like the iPhone is on pace to beat Apple’s internal sales estimate of 730,000 units this quarter. That’s a heck of a lot of iPhones.

According to UBS analyst Ben Reitzes, the iPhone could sell as many as 800,000 units this quarter:

According to a UBS research note on Tuesday, Apple Inc.’s iPhone may reach a unit sales figure of 800,000 in the current quarter. By doing so, it would beat Apple’s own hopes of 730,000 over the same period of time. “Our checks continue to indicate solid demand for the iPhone despite typical moderation in excitement from launch and extremely high expectations,” analyst Ben Reitzes wrote.

- Taken from Information Week, August 27, 2007