vnunet.com analysis: will iPhone ring up the sales?

Gold also questioned the ruggedness of the screen and asked how easy it would be to scratch. Many users drop their handset on a hard floor at some point during a phone's lifecycle.

However, Stuart Sikes, president of Parks Associates, said that analysts needed to look beyond the device itself.

"Looking at the iPod, one has to remember that, while the device is cool, what really made it was the accompanying iTunes commerce experience," he said. "Does the iPhone have anything like this to give it a 'transactional advantage'? "

Whatever the outcome following the iPhone's launch today, analysts agree that Apple's entry into the mobile phone handset market has already been a success.

Carolina Milanesi, mobile devices analyst at Gartner, said that Apple had already become a premier brand in an extremely competitive North American handset market. "Apple was able to negotiate a truly unique deal with AT&T, " she said.

"Operators control the power in the North American handset market and Gartner believes that Apple has secured a deal that lets it set wholesale pricing, and terms and conditions, along with a host of other advantages.

"What makes that remarkable is that it all happened before the first paying customer ever completed a call on the iPhone."

Milanesi added that the only question now is to see whether Apple can replicate the situation in Western Europe.

Whether the iPhone sweeps all before it, or remains a niche product for early adopters, Gold believes that the exercise has already paid dividends for Apple.

"The iPhone has been in the press for months and Apple could not have afforded to pay for all of the publicity it received. It must be worth billions, " the analyst said.

"Even if it never sells an iPhone it has been a successful product just on the basis of hype alone and Apple visibility."