Apple's iPad and iPhone have propelled Apple to new heights in 2010. The iPad 2 and iPhone 5, likely to launch on Verizon Wireless, could make 2011 that much sweeter for the company.
Apple's iPad and iPhone products alone have set up the company for a
rewarding 2011, according to anecdotal evidence and prognostications
from industry analysts.
Apple launched its iPad in April and
iPhone 4 in June and both products were instant sensations among Apple fans.
The iPad, which
sold 300,000 units the day it was launched and 4.2 million in the last quarter
alone, drew many new consumers to Apple because it was the first product of its
kind that delivered the promise of tablet computing without the clunkiness of past
efforts.
The iPhone 4, with its new FaceTime video chat
application, multitasking and other new capabilities, sold 1.7 million units in
its first few days of launch in June.
Largely on the strength of the iPhone 4 and iPad, Apple
for its fourth quarter
posted revenues of $20.34 billion and a net quarterly profit of $4.31 billion.
Apple also sold 14.1 million iPhones for the quarter, buoyed by sales of the
iPhone 4.
As good as Apple's 2010 was with the iPhone and iPad, the
company's 2011 can be better. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster
said the iPad, which commands 90 percent of the tablet market share en route to
selling 14.5 million units for 2010, should continue its reign in 2011.
The seminal device is expected to command a 53 percent
market share through 2011, with Google grabbing 32.5 percent.
Apple's efforts will be buoyed by the iPad 2, which
should
feature a camera to enable video calling,
a larger speakers sport a higher-resolution screen.
It is also believed that Apple's orders of iPad 2 are
expected to top six million units a month compared to a volume of four million
units a quarter for the original version.
As much as the iPad overshadowed the iPhone 4, the iPhone
could blow away Android, RIM and everyone else in the market in 2011. Next
year, Apple is expected to launch the iPhone on Verizon Wireless' network. This may or may not be the next-generation iPhone 5.
Launching on the No. 1 U.S. wireless network could yield never-before-seen
smartphones sales in the United States and abroad.
Jaffray's Munster
expects Verizon will activate 9 million iPhones in 2011, comprising 36 percent
of Verizon's estimated 25 million smartphone activations. Throw in another 11 million by incumbent iPhone carrier
AT&T and that means Apple could sell 20 million iPhones over the course of the
year.
Considering that today in the United States there are
60 million total smartphones (comScore) activated, this boost represents a stunning
one-third growth in the country's smartphone market in one year.
Combine that with the continued success of Android handsets
and the rise of Windows Phone 7 and 2011 should dwarf already impressive 2010
in U.S. smartphone sales.
Finally, less is known about the iPhone 5, though that could well be
the first iPhone that appears on next year, as well as on the carrier
incumbent AT&T.
Early reports suggest the iPhone 5 will sport NFC
technology, an LCD touchscreen made by Toshiba, an integrated SIM card and a
built-in radio receiver. NFC, the short-range wireless technology, could pave
the way for mobile payments via the iPhone.
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