iPhone Reactions From CES: The Joy of Competition

[Leecher]

The iPhone: We love it. You love it. Everyone loves it. Except for maybe the phone makers that now have to stack up to it. We decided to hit the CES show floor to see what some reps from other makers had to say about the Jesus phone and how they plan on dealing with the Second Coming. Quotopia after the jump.
Motorola: John Wernecke tersely offered that Apple "was and still is a business partner." Sounds like someone's not happy that their crappy iTunes phones aren't even worth bitching about anymore.
LG: More talkative than Motorola, Melissa Elkins said that LG "welcomes healthy competition" and thinks that the iPhone shows that "we're all moving in the right direction." However, the iPhone is "different [from what LG is doing]" and is "a little bit more in the high end" whereas they offer phones for a variety of providers at many different price points.
Samsung: Kim Titus thinks that "more excitement around phones and functionality is going to be nothing but good for the industry."
Nokia: Keith Nowak happily told me that Nokia thinks it's "exciting" because it's "making people aware that... internet and people are coming together." Moreover, it "follows what we've been saying for years." On exclusivity, it's "not abnormal" and pretty much all manufacturers do it. All of that being said, "nobody's touched it" so it's hard to comparisons.
Upshot? No one thinks that it's the end of the world. In fact, they think if people get used to paying more for phones with increased functionality like in Europe and Asia, everybody wins. Or they're agents of the Beast and are lying their asses off. – Matt Buchanan

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