Who Will Buy the First iPhone? Maybe You!

June 11, 2007 — -- It has all the electricity, anticipation and pent-up demand of a blockbuster rock tour that's about to go on sale.

Steve Jobs announced at the Apple Developers Conference that there will be plenty of big-name software players in the stadium for the iPhone show, saying the cell phone/music player/Internet device will run all Web 2.0 applications.

And around the country, thousands of people are hatching elaborate plans on how they are going to be one of the first to get their hands on a new Apple iPhone. Residents of big cities are planning trips to AT&T (neé Cingular) stores in suburban or rural areas. Some are betting that jumping on the Web at 12:01 a.m. on June 29 will be their best bet to land an iPhone.

No matter what the plan, there are millions of Americans who will be competing for a first-generation iPhone in what is likely to be the most anticipated tech-product launch in at least a decade.

But the people who will queue up later this month to get the iPhone might surprise you.

Market analysts at Solutions Research Group have run an online poll, trying to get an idea of exactly who is willing to shell out $500 for a mobile/music-player/Internet device from Apple.

What they found might surprise you: About 50 percent of the people willing to shell out half a grand for an iPhone do not already own an iPod.

"That basically suggests that Apple will be able to expand its customer footprint with the product," said Kaan Yigit, president and founder of Solutions Research Group. "It also suggests that its marketing is working beyond the current owners."

The iPhone seems to be garnering interest from people who have not already sipped the Steve Jobs Kool-Aid.

This "non-Apple" buyer interest, said Yigit, is likely the result of the mass of marketing and hype that has surrounded the product's introduction.

"This is remarkable for a product that doesn't exist -- that's been pre-announced six-months prior to its launch," said Yigit.

According to SRG's survey 73 percent of Americans over age 12 have at least heard about the iPhone.

Of the people who say they are definitely interested in buying an iPhone at its current price point, about three-quarters are men.