Goldman Sachs Gives iPhone The Vote of Confidence

Goldman Sachs is positive on Apple after a survey conducted in the US, UK, China, and India revealed the great interest people manifest regarding Apple's iPhone. The survey was meant for handset branding and took place prior to the official announcement of the iPhone. Here is what the survey pointed out.

Current iPod owners are likely to become iPhone owners as well. They discovered 75 percent of iPod owners would buy the iPhone, compared to little under 50 percent of people who never owned an iPod. This is good news considering the large number of people who bought iPods.

Secondly, the survey showed 71 percent of US respondents would be interested in a cell phone from Apple. This was before the iPhone demonstration took place.

The survey also found Apple as being fourth in a list of most desired handset brands in the US. This is a great result considering Apple has mostly been (before the iPod) a computer manufacturer.

There was concern about the fact that Apple chose to sign an exclusive contract wit AT&T (ex Cingular) and customers might not be willing to change carriers. The survey found that 30 percent of UK respondents and 15 percent of US respondents would switch carrier for the iPhone.

"We think that iPhone starts the next big growth phase for Apple," wrote analyst David Bailey from Goldman Sachs. He is confident Apple will manage to meet their sales estimates for this year and the next. It was said Apple will sell over 4 million units in 2007 and 10.5 million in 2008.

The confidence Goldman Sachs shows regarding the commercial success of Apple iPhones stands to confirm my belief that the iPhone will sell. It's a known fact that several phone manufacturers have announced similar products with better features and functionalities than the iPhone and it's true the device is overpriced. Still, Apple knows how and what to sell and I know they'll be making big money on the iPhone.