Market analyst iSuppli (no relation) reports that the iPhone captured 1.8 per cent of US handset sales in July, outselling all other models of smartphone during its launch month.

The study also reports that nearly a quarter of iPhone buyers were not AT&T customers. When an AT&T customer buys an iPhone Apple gets a cut of $3 a month, but when someone switches to AT&T then Apple's cut rises to $11 a month.

So Apple makes a lot more on switchers than loyal AT&T customers; which suits both companies. Raking in $11 a month on a quarter of iPhone users in addition to the margin on the hardware has got to be good for Apple.

It's hard to predict future sales on the basis of the launch month, but iSuppli does: reckoning Apple will shift 4.5 million iPhones during 2007, rising to 30 million in 2011. This seems optimistic, but will depend on how they develop the product. ®

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