Globe Telecom Inc., yesterday said the launch of Apple’s iPhone on August 22 will drive growth in the second half.

Globe suffered a three percent drop in income during the second quarter as consumers spent less on phones and focused on buying essentials. Subscribers also shifted to texting which is cheaper than voice calls or mails.

Gerardo Ablaza, said the iPhone plus the launch of WIMAX will perk up usage of Globe services.

iPhone is targeted to be sold to "techy –conscious yuppies" of about one million, analysts said.

The Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a service combined by DSL and wireless application which compliments the DSL, HDPA, and 3G service which will be launched in the fourth quarter of the year and will be available in the key several cities in the country.

At present, Globe has 700,000 3G handsets in circulation with half of them actively using 3G service.

"We are very excited in offering iPhones", Ablaza said hoping to duplicate the successful launch of the new iPhone last month in other countries.

iPhone 3G has been successfully launched in 22 countries last month and with Globe partnership with Apple they will able to bring it to the country. It operates on Wi-Fi, EDGE and 3G networks to give the best e-mail, web browsing, search and maps applications for a mobile phone.

In the first quarter of the year, Globe SIM based stood at 22.7 million up by 25 percent year on year net adds of 1.5 million in the second quarter of the year, but the service revenues down by 2 percent year on year.

Ablaza said that while voice revenues went down, SMS revenues rose three percent.

"More consumers shifted from voice to SMS," he said. An analyst said that the iPhone is a "disease" that Globe can gain from.

"There’s a disease in the telecom industry. It’s the iPhone craze. It’s one disease that they [Globe] can advantage of. So, I think in time, they will benefit from such exclusivity from Apple," Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Holdings said in an interview.