Apple iPhone sales below expectations in UK
By Dave Parrack
It seems that despite a huge launch in November, which prompted reams of press, both online, and off, the Apple iPhone has failed to sell the quantities expected of it in the UK.
Be it because of the stupidly high price, or the number of cheap fakes on offer, or just the fact that British consumers are too tech savvy to buy an overpriced mobile phone which has less features than cheaper alternatives, sales have fallen short.
Before the launch, 02 claimed that they expected to sell 200,000 iPhones in the first two months, but they, along with the Carphone Warehouse, now admit that sales have fallen short of that hopeful figure.
It’s only just failed to meet the target, selling nearer to 190,000, but the fact that retailers always talk their expectations down, and it’s still failed to reach that pessimistic target is not good news for Apple, or it’s exclusive partners in the UK.
02 is the only telephone network which is allowed to sell contracts for the iPhone, and the Carphone Warehouse is the only retailer who can sell them.
According to the FT, some analysts now think that Apple will have to cut the price in the UK to try and maintain or increase sales. I can’t see anyone associated with the UK launch happy with sales not even reaching the conservative estimates. 02 even hired more staff for the launch to enable them to meet demand. It seems that demand never really came.
It seems that in the run up to Christmas, sales were relatively strong, no doubt people buying them as (very expensive) presents, but since then sales have tapered off to almost nothing.
I personally would not touch an iPhone, as cool as they are, I’m not willing to pay the £899 asking price for a handset, and 18 month contract. I can get another phone, just as good, for free from most networks, and pay just a fraction of the contract price and only be tied in for 12 months.
With Apple now targeting Asia as the next launchpad for its attempts to take over the world with the iPhone, the lack of success in the UK doesn’t bode well for the products future outside of the States.
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January 21st, 2008
These results from the UK vindicate my posted opinion on the iPhone prior to its US launch.
After all the hyperbole has died down, the emperor’s new clothes are revealed for what they are. This is just another smart phone. There is nothing that it does that has not been done by another device competing it the same marketplace.
Sure, the interface may be much nicer, but that is merely refinement, not the revolutionary leap that Apple keeps wanking on about.
I don’t think it will do any better in Australia either, for the same reasons as apply in the UK.
January 21st, 2008
This isnt surprising at all and its nice to know us Brits obviously arent as dumb as the Americans.
The iphone 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 iphone 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?
January 21st, 2008
no offense, to anyone who got an N95, but i had to take mine back after playing with the iPhone
i can understand if some people can’t afford it, but the fact is, the internet/iPod and phone experience are just so much better than anything on the market, it lacks certain features, but with the software developer kit coming in February, the phone is going to have endless possibilities
this article is pretty unprofessional as it is biased in a rather childish way of someone who didn’t get an iPhone for christmas, so decides to have a good rant about it.
Apple users are generally more successful and intelligent then purchasers of other consumer electronics, and i don’t think i have met one person unhappy with their iPhone, its just the most amazing experience ever. Its like moving from windows to mac os x, you feel like an idiot for being a sheep for years
January 21st, 2008
Endless possibility’s eh Sean?
Is that going to add a 5mp camera? video recording? DNLA compliance? 3G? Removable battery? Integral TV out?
The N95 is a far supiriour piece of kit. If you disagree you either work for Apple or you are lying about owning an N95.
Here is a nice little side by side comparison of features for anyone stupid enough to consider getting an iPhone instead of an N95;
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/Black_Beauties_-the_Nokia_N95_8GB_versus_the_Apple_iPhone.php
January 21st, 2008
what kind of a cretin would want a 5MP camera? i use my nikon for that
can i fiddle with focal length and aperture on an N95? no. I think if you look hard past the hardware crap, most mobiles haven’t changed that much since 1999
all they do is lop a new function on, and don’t improve the old ones, so much baggage.
in fairness, i don’t notice the difference between 2.5G and 3G, well 3G is slightly faster i guess, but kills all my battery life…yea nice trade off, thats why you need a replaceable battery on the nokia and i can cope just fine with 4 days standby and 6 hours talk time
oh, lets not forget the internet and maps are so average on the N95 that it doesn’t even matter that it has 3G, because i wouldn’t use the functions anyway
and you can add video recording, so you are well briefed, there is an app to turn it into a webcam, i wouldn’t bother using it, because i don’t think anyone with any sense buys a phone for its optics qualities.
what would i prefer? hmm, how about
the best internet on a mobile device, the best iPod on the planet and a fantastic phone, and the reason it all works so perfectly, and what you don’t understand, is that everything is integrated to complete perfection
January 21st, 2008
Sean pretty much sums up Apple users by using this sentence.
“Apple users are generally more successful and intelligent then purchasers of other consumer electronics”
They are under the impression they are buying into a more intelligent brand when people who actually know about technology know that they are actually buying into a load of overpriced underspecced fluff. Sean never owned a Nokia N95 8gb. Not because it isnt a better product than the iPhone but because it isnt as cool as the iPhone and it wont make him look as good to the kind of pathetic gimps he hangs around with. Sean doesn’t care how good a product is, he cares how he looks using it. In short, Sean is the perfect Apple customer.
In reality there are 2 types of people who buy the iPhone. Stupid and really stupid. The stupid ones buy it because they arent aware of the Nokia N95 8gb, while the really stupid ones buy it despite being aware of it.
January 21st, 2008
why would i make up i bought a N95?
i’ve been buying symbian phones for 5 years, and left them because literally nothing has changed, the user interface is almost the same as my N3330, which i got as a present from my gf in 2001, the interface is the same today with a bit of padding.
not to call you stupid or anything
but nokia is going to probs just going to clone the iPhone as soon as it works out which patents it can get away with stealing
to be honest, nothing is different between sonys, nokias, samsungs, they just look a bit different
software is the same
useless, unproductive, baby software thats a good few years behind the iPhone
so happy i switched :D