The iPhone went on sale in various countries across Europe over the last few days, with the UK seeing a Friday evening launch. Now 02, Apple’s network partner in Britain, claims that the iPhone is “the fastest-selling device we have ever seen.”

There have been mixed reports over whether the iPhone had lived up to its hype, either in performance or sales levels, but Peter Erskine, the chief executive of 02 told Times Online “it has sold in the tens of thousands” since its launch on Friday.

On Thursday evening in London, a handful of Apple devotees started queuing, spending a night being cold and wet, just so they could be one of the first to get their hands on an officially released iPhone. They were rewarded with cheering from the sales staff and hysteria more in keeping with a pop concert.

02 and Carphone Warehouse have refused to issue any official sales figures, but 8,000 customers had registered their new purchases by the end of Friday night. Two thirds of those buying iPhones were said to be new customers to 02, ditching their existing networks after being forced to by Apple’s network of only offering the phone through one network.

02 are hoping to sell several hundred thousand of the new gadgets between now and the new year, although reports from stores in Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham showed iPhones were selling slower than expected, at least outside of London.

The enforced 18 month contract with not many extras is still proving to be the big problem, with one 02 salesman telling Mobile:

‘Lots of people are having a poke around, checking it out, but they’re not comfortable with paying £270, signing up on an 18-month contract and then only getting 200 minutes and 200 texts for £35, even though we tell them they get unlimited data.’

Apple are still pressuring people to go the official route rather than buy an unlocked phone to use on any network, with store staff giving away a leaflet to every new customer called ‘Getting Started’. In the leaflet, customers are warned:

“If you do not enter into and remain in an airtime agreement with O2 on one of our tariffs for iPhone, you will not be able to use the phone functionality of your phone”.

Mobile spoke to various independent retailers who claim they will try and source unlocked iPhones and still make a profit by giving them away free on conventionally subsidised contracts.

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Entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 12:20 pm under Apple, Cell phones, Technology.

Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
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