Apple has moved 12 million + iPhones since the introduction of the do everything device. That is a fantastic number, there is no doubt that the iPhone is a runaway hit. But there are other over performing phones out there, other phones that have the ‘real” internet that have exceeded sales expectations.

The most recent one is the Storm. RIM has been making great stuff fro a long time but the storm, despite some reviews, is selling much better than anyone imagined. First there were the lines. If you got to a Verizon store a little late on the release date they would tell you to order it on the net and you’d have it in six or seven days. If you waited a day the website changed from six or seven days to an estimated ship date of 12/15. Obviously RIM was unprepared for the demand.

But RIM and Apple aren’t the only game in town. Turns out that HTC and Google have an entry in this horse race: The G1 available only from T-Mobile.

So you’ve got the carriers covered. If you’re an AT&T type person you’ve got the iPhone. If you use Verizon you get a Storm. The T-Mobile types get the G1 and for you Sprint folks, well, um, yeah. One supposes Sprint is the Royal Crown Cola of the cellular world. Once relevant but now completely superfluous. 

Looking at the performance of the iPhone and associated knockoffs the quick conclusion is that everyone wants an iPhone. The better conclusion is that everyone wants the internet with them all the time. People don’t care if it comes from Apple or RIM or HTC. What they really want is the internet all the friggin time. Qnd they don’t want just any internet, they want the experience they have on the computer on their phone. No secret clicks, no weird mobile sites, they want what they already used to, what they are already dependant on on their frickin phone.

The other thing you should learn from the lines for the Storm and sales of the G1 (and iPhone) is that people value the carrier almiost as much as they value the functionality. Every hundredth person in line for the Storm was there because they wanted a key free blackberry. The other 99 were there because they preferred Verizon over AT&T.

What does all this tell us? It tells us that the iPhone got everything right. The iPod functionality, the screen size the mail, the virtual keyboard, the apps menu etc. It also tells us that that getting everything right isn’t that big of a deal, the bigger deal is just getting a big screen on the right carrier with a browser that people trust (sorry Windows Mobile) It should also tell you that there is a huge opportunity for a carrier to really score with cut rate prices. As it stands right now everything people actually want is priced like the iPhone (there are some minor differences) much like one would expect from an oligopoly. In an oligopoly cutting prices only results in the competitors cutting prices and decreasing profits for the involved companies. So, if you want to beat the iPhone/G1/Storm and you’re say a company desperate to make up lost market share roll out a big screen, decent browser standard phone for 10 with a cheap call plan and a cheaper data plan. Is Sprint listening?