The iPhone Accessory Race Is On

07.12.07 - 03:02pm

The iPhone is out of the gate running hard and running fast. Now it is time for the accessories to start their turn around the track.

“The iPhone is a showpiece,” said Kathy Sharpe of Sharpe Partners, a marketing agency based in New York. “It is all about status and fashion. Anything that lets you show it off, you will want.”

Basically the accessories for the iPhone will be a huge business, it will most likely bring in even more revenue than the accessories for the iPod due to the higher cost. Richard Doherty, a principal in the Envisioneering Group says that consumers typically spend half as much on accessories as they do on the product. He said “We expect three million iPhones to be sold in the first 45 days, with an average $225 spent on accessories per unit.”

Some accessories that work with the iPod will work with the iPhone, as it uses the same 30-pin connector as most iPods, but some will not. Most accessory makers did not receive a prototype of their iPhone till iDay so they could only begin to make accessories using the general dimensions Apple gave out. Thus many accessory makers such as RadTech have choosen to wait to actually develop their concepts. “We’ve had 800 requests for information on our Sleevz case products for the iPhone,” said RadTech’s owner, John Grzeskowiak. “That’s slightly more than for the fifth-generation iPod.”

Various iPhone cases and iPhone screen protectors, headphones, car adapters and the like have emerged but expect to see a lot more, soon.

Apple does have some accessories on the market such as their super small Bluetooth headset, but they are choosing to not overly campaign in the market. “We want to participate in the accessories business, but not overwhelm it,” said Greg Joswiak, an Apple vice president. “It’s important to have lots of developers.”

Category: iphone accessories | Tags: accessories, apple, bluetooth_headset, cases, consumers, iPhone, screen-covers