Technology and Passion

Yesterday on Techdirt there was a post on "Putting iPhone sales in perspective." It suggested that the million units of sales in the first three days of the iPhone were not that impressive. The author quoted one Carl Longino who argued that Nokia sells 1.28 million phones a day and that the total phone sales market was 282 million phones in the first quarter. He also asks what the mix of applications was between paid and free and whether the 10 million applications actually enhances developer revenues.

One reader on Longino's Blog points out that the total market for smart phones globally is 32.2 million, with the North American share at 7.3 million - and with those numbers the weekend share is pretty big.In part Longino's comparison is not Apples to Apples. The market share that the iPhone is going after is the smart phone market and in that sub market they are doing pretty well. (Considerably better than most of the critics thought they would when the iPhone launched a year ago.) All of those were good issues to consider.

The Guardian (British Newspaper) described the sales of the iPhone in this round as "gigantically faster this time round", but went on to say that was driven by two factors " 1) international availablilty in 21 countries, and 2) a 60% lower entry-level price point." Ultimately, all of this to this point is something that should fascinate both technobuffs and economists. From the best data that is available two things seem clear - Apple sold a lot more phones this year than last, some of it was from previous owners upgrading (showing brand stickiness) and some was from new buyers switching phones and markets (showing some share growth).

What surprised me was the 55 comments that followed in Techdirt. Some added personal invectives about how horrible either PC or Mac users were - making allusions to the other user's parentage, ability with the opposite sex and the like. I am not sure what arouses that kind of passion. But even though I was an original Mac Evangelista I am not sure I understand why either the PC or Mac people would get so excited. Technology here is a tool.