IPhone Accessory Makers Place Big Bets on Device

According to the Wall Street Journal, Griffin Technology Inc. researchers were among those paying rapt attention in early January when Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs introduced Apple's iPhone cellphone.

The minute Mr. Jobs's presentation at Macworld in San Francisco ended, Griffin employees began working on a lineup of iPhone carry cases, screen protectors and other accessories that will go on sale on June 29, the day AT&T Inc. will begin selling the phone, said Griffin spokeswoman Jackie Ballinger.

Apple and telecom giant AT&T aren't the only companies with a stake in the phone's success. Like Griffin, other accessories makers are placing big bets on the iPhone. They include RadTech LLC of Earth City, Mo.; Marware Inc. of Hollywood, Fla.; and Belkin International Inc. of Compton, Calif.

Their payoff could be big, if the $1 billion a year spent on Apple iPod accessories is any indication.

Apple believes it can sell 10 million iPhones by the end of next year and plans on having three million phones in stores on June 29. Meanwhile, the iPhone also will support most existing accessories for the iPod, owing to the fact that it is also a music player. This means accessories makers are catering to a rather large, and lucrative, audience, the newspaper observes.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118170151480933532.html?mod=googlenews_wsj