It not as though it’s not to be expected but Apple are obviously lining up to hit the worldwide smartphone market with a vengeance with their iPhone 3G, especially pricing the next-gen Apple icon at only $199.00 for the 8GB base version, and of course we are all aware the Apple iPhone 3G will be selling like bows at Christmas.

So the question is…just how many in total does Apple expect to sell in the first year of global sales?
Andy Hargreaves of Pacific Crest likens the new Apple iPhone 3G pricing structure to that of past price-cuts on items such as the Apple iPod and even the Sony PSP as both were given huge increases in sales once they fell below the mystical $200.00 price horizon.

The Apple iPhone 3G’s $199.00 price tag will probably boost mobile sales to before unattainable levers with the original iPhone, while in comparison, Apple watched the yearly Apple iPod sales shoot from 8.3 million up to 32 million when lowering the price below $200.00, and if the same trend goes with the iPhone 3G, they could well see an increase from the expected 6 million shooting upwards of 23 million over 12 months.

Naturally these figures are just projections, and don’t even take in to consideration the effect of heavy subsidy and free on contract from carriers outside the US.

Source — appleinsider