19M Ready to Pick Up iPhone

The iPhone doesn't even hit stores until next week, and already 19 million American cellphones users have it on their shopping lists. The estimate, drawn from a survey of 11,000 Americans, is good news for Apple, which projects sales of 10 million units through the end of 2008, and even better news for AT&T, the gadget's only US carrier.

Two-thirds of those lusting for an iPhone have deals with AT&T's top three competitors, a research analyst tells Computerworld, in a zero-sum market in which "it's all about stealing customers from competitors." And price appears not to be a barrier—the iPhone goes for up to $599, and the price of AT&T's plans isn't even set yet. (More Apple stories.)