iPhone storms smartphone bestseller lists

In July, Apple's iPhone topped all smart phones in US unit sales, according to a consumer survey released Tuesday by market researcher iSuppli.

During its first full month of sales, Apple's highly anticipated smart phone grabbed 1.8 percent of the US consumer mobile-handset market, according to iSuppli. The research firm's survey of more than 2 million US consumers indicated sales of 220,000 iPhones in July. In its first 30 hours, before its fiscal third quarter ended on June 30, Apple sold 270,000 iPhones.

"While iSuppli has not 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 noted in its report.

The research firm predicts that 4.5 million iPhones will ship during the 2007 calendar year, with figures rising to more than 30 million in 2011. But while the initial sales of the iPhone have been brisk, some market watchers had expected sales to be three times larger in the initial 30 hours that they were on sale.

Nonetheless, the iPhone outsold all smart phones in July, including the BlackBerry series, Palm's portfolio of smart phones, as well as those of Motorola, Nokia, Samsung Electronics and others sold through a branded service provider. iPhone sales, meanwhile, rivaled those of LG Electronics' Chocolate smart phone.

iSuppli categorises the iPhone as a crossover phone, putting it between the smart-phone and feature phone categories.

The research firm's US Consumer Panel Survey found that 52 percent of iPhone buyers were male and that 57 percent of all domestic buyers were ages 35 years or younger. Approximately 25 percent of purchasers switched their mobile phone service to AT&T, which currently is the exclusive US carrier for the iPhone.