|
700,000 iPhones sold does not a downturn make |
|
|
|
Jul 03, 2007 at 01:40 PM |
Analysts are ga-ga over the iPhone sales figures from last weekend's hypefest and feeding frenzy.
Goldman Sachs says the number of units sold may have reached 700,000, more than twice their initial forecast. Other folks have put the sell numbers in the 300K--500K range, blowing out their presale prognostications as well.
Press reports of iPhone teardowns from Portelligent and iSuppli (did they get their's early, since they have a little "i" name too?) have revealed a complex, somewhat expensive bill of hardware components, with an estimated cost of $220 (Portelligent) to just shy of $266 (iSuppli). Evidently, Infineon and Samsung have fared well in terms of their embedded iPresence. (btw, I'm staying tuned for Chipworks' breakdown/reverse engineering analysis for the real process and device poop.)
But what does Semico announce in the wake of all this iPhone mania? A "downturn" in the semiconductor industry. No longer calling the market conditions a mere "inventory correction," the research company says it expects the chip market to slip 0.5% in 2007, with a downside scenario of minus 3.5 to minus 5%.
Frankly, I'm just not feeling Semico's gloom und doom. Throw in the slightly better-than-expected chip sales figures for May that SIA just released---a 2.4% pop---and I'm not seeing a "real" downturn. Not thinking upturn either, mind you, but I'm pretty confident that the iPhone-omena has given and will continue to give buoyancy to the electronics---and IC---markets over the rest of the year.
|
Blogs 
