• by Seana Mulcahy , July 2, 2007

I know, I know -- you are probably sick of hearing about the iPhone. First off, the iPhone is a quad-band phone with a 3.5-inch touch screen, wi-fi, a camera, a Web browser, and has no keyboard.

I have to say it's wearing on me too. It seems to be the biggest product launch ever. Apple should yell it from the rooftops.

So get this, after the iPhone was announced by Steve Jobs at Macworld on Jan. 9 this year, search activity related to the product reached 1.1 million searches for the week ending Jan. 14 (source: comScore). Also according to comScore, Americans have conducted an average of 274,000 iPhone-related searches each week since the beginning of the year.

Apple didn't kick off its ad campaign until June. According to ComScore, that's when iPod-related search activity jumped to 704,000 searches per week versus 80,000 -- 200,000 for the months prior. Not to mention that weekly search inquiries for the product went up and up in June -- to 727,000, then to 1.2 million last week.

So what does this mean? Well almost 6.9 million searches were conducted including the word iPhone to date. Many people searched for "Apple iPhone" as well. Most of the searches were related to release date and price. iPhone-related searches have generated more than 7.8 million click-throughs to Web sites since this January.

Sure there might be a bunch of tire kickers or people that were just curious to see what the phone looked like, when it was going to be released, how much it would sell for, and all of its features. There were still a boatload of searches that probably resulted in sales. I'm hoping someone will release this data when the time comes.

Of course the phones popped up on eBay within a matter of hours after the release last week. According to USA Today as of 4:45 p.m. on Sunday, more than 2,600 iPhones were sold on eBay for an average price of $775.03. The highest selling price: $12,500, for a Saturday sale through eBay's "Buy It Now" feature, which offers items at a fixed sum.

Apple said this weekend was a success although there were activation problems reported mainly by carrier AT& T. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris told USA Today, "The response to iPhone has been incredible. We are thrilled there is so much excitement."

Of course the gadgeteers have posted to forums and blogs all over the Net. Many have surgically taken the iPhone apart merely to see what's inside. YouTube had a surge in traffic to a video where two guys smash an iPhone apart. They said they wanted to see what was inside. Whatever.

People waited in line upwards of five days to get theirs. The Apple site says delivery is out 14 days. AT&T said 1,800 units were sold out in moments. While it's good to create demand, Apple also needs to deliver.

Many of those who got the phones have been frustrated by activation glitches and the operating system. But most admit the product is still cool and will be part of history. As a branding gal, my hat goes off to Apple. They've pulled off some of the biggest product launches over and over again. Will anyone else ever step up to the plate?