iPhone # 1 Smartphone in the US


Market research firm iSuppli says that Apple's iPhone outsold its main rivals - BlackBerry, the Palm Treo and all other smart phones - during the month of July, Information Week. reports.

iPhone took 1.8% of the market in July, its first full month of sales, a significant percentage for a high-end phone. iSuppli said iPhone also 'equalled' the performance of 'feature phones', such as LG's Chocolate.

The research company also stated that, "While iSuppli hasn't collected historical information on this topic, it's likely that the speed of the iPhone's rise to competitive dominance in its segment is unprecedented in the history of the mobile-handset market."

iSuppli is predicting Apple will sell 4.5 million iPhones in 2007, putting Apple on track to sell 10 million through the end of 2008. However, more bullish analysts are predicting 12 million or more, and Apple is expected to bring prices down and introduce new, cheaper models over the next 15 months. By the end of 2011, Apple is expected to ship 30 million iPhones per annum.

An oddity: iSuppli's data says that "one out of 4 iPhone buyers switched wireless carriers to AT&T." That begs the question: what are the other 75% doing with their iPhone?