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  • October 2007
  • Case
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iPhone vs. Cell Phone

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:6
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Abstract

The launch of Apple's iPhone marked a pivotal new chapter in the story of mobile music (the uniting of digital music players with mobile phones). The iPhone combined an iPod music player, a cell phone, and a mobile Internet device, along with a camera and other features. By September 2007, just 74 days after the June launch of the iPhone, Apple and its mobile carrier partner AT&T Mobility had sold one million units. When Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the product in January 2007, he said that the goal behind it was to "reinvent the phone." Yet both the device and the mobile service provided by AT&T involved limitations that could hinder the long-term prospects for the iPhone. At the same time, handset makers and other mobile carriers had brought, or would soon bring, various "iPhone killers" to the market.

Keywords

Communication Technology; Music Entertainment; Product Launch; Partners and Partnerships; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Communications Industry; Music Industry

Citation

Yoffie, David B., and Michael Slind. "iPhone vs. Cell Phone." Harvard Business School Case 708-451, October 2007.
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About The Author

David B. Yoffie

Strategy
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