With Apple’s new iPhone 3G scheduled to go on sale worldwide this Friday, Nielsen Mobile released penetration, demographics, and usage data for the current iPhone:
How many iPhones are already out there?
-Nielsen Mobile estimates that there are 2.3 million U.S. mobile subscribers using an iPhone
-The iPhone accounts for 1% of all embedded mobile phone users in the U.S.

Who is using the iPhone already?

-Two-thirds (67%) of U.S. iPhone users are male (compared to 48% of all mobile subscribers)
-55% of iPhone owners are under the age of 35 (compared to 34% of all …

Is attentive customer service the hottest new marketing strategy? 
In the first of a regular series of Ad Age columns, Nielsen Online Executive Vice President Pete Blackshaw examines how Apple uses in-store “concierges” to both greet and direct shoppers—thus blurring the line between marketing and service. 
“Whether explicitly acknowledged or not, there’s an unmistakable ‘service is marketing’ mantra pervading every aspect of the Apple Store,” Blackshaw writes.  “That’s something every brand, even those not as shiny as Apple’s, can learn from. The opportunity to solve problems, find solutions and even address ‘the …