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Women to the front of the line?

Outta the way techies! One report says that women may surpass gadget geeks as the largest consumer segment likely to adopt the new $600 iPhone. And if it happens, that would defy history, reports Janet Babin.

TEXT OF STORY

Doug Krizner: Shares in Apple are up 44 percent this year. Much of the gain is tied to the hoopla about the iPhone. The gadget hits the street tomorrow. iPhoniacs are already lining up to buy, but a new report says they could be outnumbered. Janet Babin reports from the Marketplace Innovations Desk at North Carolina Public Radio:


Janet Babin: Here’s who’s going to buy the ultra-powerful phone that plays music and videos and surfs the Web: empty nesters, single 20s, dual-income couples and divorced women.

That according to a June Credit Suisse report. It also expects that women may surpass gadget geeks as the largest customer segment likely to adopt the iPhone.

More women than men lining up for a super-expensive gizmo? Mark Hughes with Buzz Nation Studios says that would defy history.

Mark Hughes: Time and time again, it’s been proven that gadget freaks and gadget geeks are two-thirds or more men, and women are typically adopters after the fact.

Credit Suisse compares the iPhone to a new luxury product, like Motorola’s pink Razr phone. Overall, the company expects Apple to sell five million iPhones this year — and 15 million in 2008.

I’m Janet Babin for Marketplace.

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