Brits not buying Apple iPhones due to high price
It seems unlikely that Apple will see the iPhone sell as well in the UK as it did in America. Not only are reports suggesting that sales are running at about a quarter of what was expected, but a survey shows that a large proportion of the population wouldn’t buy one due to the high price.
Firstly The Register cited “reliable channel sources” as telling them that 02, Apple’s exclusive network operator in the UK, has activated just 26,500 iPhones in the two weeks since it went on sale.
This is well below the 100,000 estimated, at the time, to have sold over the first weekend. Obviously more than the 26,500 may have been sold and just not activated, due to being Christmas presents, or unlocked and used with another network, but even with those thrown in to the total, it’s still a paltry figure.
Now research company GfK NOP has released the results of a survey in to British consumers knowledge and views on the iPhone.
They polled 500 people, and found that 72 percent of those surveyed would not buy one due to the price. 46 percent of those said they were “never going to buy it at that price.”
Richard Jameson, managing director of GfK NOP Technology said:
“Apple’s history proves that it has the magic touch when it comes to product development and marketing, but the iPhone has yet to capture the imagination of the UK public.”
“IPhone hype is in full-force, but our data shows that it is very much a considered purchase, and that its high price is turning many consumers off. We must take into account that the UK mobile market’s success has been down to subsidised handsets, so the iPhone’s price really stands out. Consumers are not used to paying in excess of £200 for a phone.”
It seems Europe as a whole, and the UK in particular, may not be such a fine hunting ground for Apple’s ever increasing search for profits as the US has been.
Maybe British consumers are just wary of a sudden price drop, similar to the one which happened in the US just weeks after it launched. This left Apple fanatics out of pocket, and angry enough at the company to file lawsuits.
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November 26th, 2007
They can’t pay 70 quid for a phone! (269-199 fro the iPod Touch – not a music player but THE music player!). I don’t think they’re getting it at all. They should canvass more opinions in London.
McD
January 21st, 2008
@ McDave
Its not just the purchase price that’s the problem, its the stupidly high tariff you get locked into to use it.
The phone costs £269 ($538 USD) and the cheapest tariff in the UK is £35 per month ($70 USD) which is £420 per year ($840USD).
To buy the phone and use it for a year will cost you at least £689 ($1378 USD).
Why would anyone with a brain do that you can buy an unlocked and far supiriour Nokia N95 8gb and use it on any network you want for far less money?