By Billy Fisher

Contributor, Stock Traders Daily -  Rule-Based Trading Strategies

(La Jolla California) Steve Jobs wasn’t at Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL – Trading Report) Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday. He didn’t have to be. The company made a big enough splash without the visionary’s appearance as Apple unveiled a next-generation iPhone and lowered the price of its least expensive model to $99. AT&T (NYSE: T), the exclusive service provider for the iPhone in the U.S. also stands to benefit from these moves.

Apple’s new iPhone 3G S is set to go on sale in the U.S. and 7 other countries on June 19^th with prices starting at $199. The entry-level iPhone 3G is having its price cut from $199 to $99, effective immediately. 

The Worldwide Developer Conference stole the spotlight away from Palm (Nasdaq: PALM – Trading Report) and Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S – Trading Report) after Palm launched its Pre smart phone over the weekend. Analysts have estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 units of the Pre were sold this past weekend alone. Palm is banking on the Pre to continue to carry the momentum of its stock price which has surged nearly 300% so far this year.

These launches will certainly intensify what is already a crowded battle in the smart phone space. The iPhone and the Pre face formidable competition from last year’s launch of the Blackberry Storm by Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ – Trading Report), several other Blackberrys manufactured by Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM – Trading Report) and smart phones that are powered by Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG – Trading Report) Android operating system.

Although Sprint is set to cash in from this past weekend’s sales of the Pre, it will have to fight to maintain these gains in the future. AT&T has indicated that it wants to sell smart phones that utilize Palm’s WebOS operating system. Verizon Wireless has said that the Pre will be on its network within the next two quarters.

The battle for smart phone market share is just beginning to heat up as we head into the summer. The major players are not pulling any punches when it comes to technology or pricing. The market is bound to witness a long, drawn out competition among these companies in the ensuing quarters. The outcome of these rivalries will certainly make for trading opportunities along the way.

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