Apple: 1st Weekend iPhone Sales Likely Below Last Time

So will there be another frenzy? The first two times Apple (AAPL) started selling new iPhones - the original version and then the follow-up 3G version - Apple and AT&T (T) stores were jammed with customers eager to buy. Tomorrow is round three: the company debuts new models (and new price points) for the iPhone. Pricing for qualified customers is $299 for the new 32 GB iPhone 3G S , $199 for the 16 GB version and $99 for the old 8 GB version . The really interesting question is whether the new low priced model will drive a jump in market share, as many analysts believe. And as I noted yesterday , there’s also some question about whether for many existing customers, the iPhone OS software upgrade that rolled out yesterday will be a big enough improvement that they will hold off on a hardware upgrade. RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky expects the company to sell between 500,000 and 700,000 units in the first weekend, down from 1 million on the opening weekend for the iPhone ... (link)