Brits snapped up Apple iPhones
Britons snapped up Apple (AAPL) iPhones at a healthy clip over the weekend, according to sales estimates that appeared in the British press this morning.
The Guardian and The Times quote Peter Erskine, CEO of O2 UK, estimating that "tens of thousands" of the devices were sold at Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores over the weekend. The Mirror, citing an unnamed O2 spokesperson, put the number at 70,000, according to Macworld U.K.
Erskine went on to call the iPhone the fastest-selling device his network has ever seen. He said 2/3 of the iPhone customers were new to O2, which suggests that they were lured away from Vodafone (VOD), Orange or T-Mobile. (link)
The sales figures went a long way to countering early suggestions — including one here — that the iPhone might be getting a tepid reception in the U.K. A thinly reported story in The Register went so far as to call first night of sales a "flop," and Apple stock fell on Monday in part reacting to such perceptions.
But Apple's partners in both the U.K. and Germany, where the iPhone went on sale Friday at midnight, insist that sales met or exceeded their expectations. The U.K. cellphone market is particularly tough to crack because it is so saturated; there are more cellphones in Britain than people.
When population size is taken into account, however, U.K. sales may even have exceeded those in the U.S.
The U.S. population is roughly 300 million. Germany's population is 82 million; the U.K.'s is 60 million.
T-Mobile, which carries the iPhone in Germany, hasn't released weekend sales figures, but said that it sold more than 10,000 iPhones that first day. In the U.S., Apple sold 270,000 iPhones during the first weekend of sales; as many as 200,000 may have been purchased that first day. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster did the math for Germany's first-day sales and calculated that Apple sold 1 iPhone for every 8,200 Germans compared with 1 iPhone for every 1,510 Americans.
If the 70,000 figure for U.K. sales is accurate, Apple may have sold 1 iPhone for every 860 Britains in 2 1/2 days as opposed to 1 iPhone for every 1,111 Americans.
To Brian, SF, California… what makes you think that a site called dialaphone.co.uk that sells mobile phones of the non-iPhone variety is telling the truth???? Hardly difficult to knock together some shop photos obviously not taken around 6pm in November from the sunlight!
You bring a new meaning to the word gullible. However, it's looking like 70k is well over any other estimate I've seen and is hard to believe given the lack of buzz here.
Was taken aback by the tone of some comments – I'd be surprised is under 50000 total are sold by the end of this week, a quarter of their stated goal. True there was not much in the way of crowds, but you couldn't be the first to buy in the UK, the US buyers had that opportunity. There have been a sizeable number of the little beasts in the UK already in prominent hands, and there were a LOT of outlets carrying them.
The contract is a little dear, the standard 25/35/45 pounds per month for a data contract depending on minutes/texts wanted, + 10 pounds for access to the cloud network of wifi spots and unlimited network access (with some restrictions, e.g. no gateways can be set up, no continuous streaming of video). So basically your out an extra tenner if you had a data account before.
Here the iPhone is a similar net price to its main competitors on a similar contract. A little more expensive, and sometimes with fewer 'features', but all the features present are painless to use.
The iPhone is obviously not for people who just want a phone. It may also not be for people who just can't bear for Apple to make a successful product.
"K, I am not sure why people are so sassy in these comments…"
1. Apple haters. 98% are Microsoft loving PC GAMERS. Microsoft is their life, and Apple is the biggest threat.
2. People who are paid to write negative comments wherever articles are posted about Apple. This is a highly organized effort that seeks to discredit Apple in every way possible with negative stories in tech and gadget websites, blogs, podcasts, "class action" lawsuits, environmental lawsuits, etc.
How steep is the monthly service fee in the Uk or Europe,compared to the USA The phone is great but the monthly service fee is hefty here. That alone is a detterent. What was the price of the iphone in the UK.
Too bad this article is living in fiction. What ever happened to good reporting ? This article is a flat out lie!
That article has more spin on it than the london eye… Write your own articles and do some decent research work Even the most aggresive estimates put iphone sals at 30 000. 70 000 is probably the actual figures including all the cheap unlocked ones bought over ebay…..
Face it its a FLOP
im disappointed to see fellow vrits so hyped up over the world greatest rp-of phone. It ha half he features of the n95 and a bunch of other phones on the market, that are free (we brits dont pay for our phones except the mac-oys ofc, they are found in nearly every western society) and also half contracts that are half the cost. No one except businessmen with expense accounts and metrosexuals should "invest" in this very pretty looking but arguable promitive phone. just remember the ipod is just an mp3 player and the phone is just a phone. bear that in mind when you rip urself off because u saw the letter "i"
The "BRITS" know a great product when they see it. Entering a saturated market and launching with great numbers is amazing in and of itself. It also gives one a preview as to how Germany(already good numbers) and France will react in terms of sales. What most people don't get is that Apple has achieved what any hi-tech company would want. Its developed a culture with such incredible innovation that most will have to reset how they think to catchup. Think Different!
Phil, I can't help but notice when talking about "early suggestions" of "tepid reception" you neglected to mention your blog was one of 'em.
Talk about a reality destortion field…
ex ped: Fair comment. Post edited to point that out. –Philip Elmer-DeWitt
"My iphone rots. It already broke. Just as my shuffle and nano did."
This sounds like an ID 10 T error. Perhaps we need a new warning label, "Please do not eat the candy colored devices." Just because they are made by Apple doesn't mean they are supposed to be consumed.
"I am never going back."
Amen. I hate to see quality devices go to waste. Besides, they have such poor nutritional value.
All the best..
o The iPhone sales per population is absurd. There may be 300 Americans but not all of them have cellular service or would be willing to break existing contracts to buy the iPhone. Unlike the US, in UK and German markets, phones can be purchased separately from the service so there is one major hurdle removed for buyers.
o
o Why don't you use a more reasonable measure such as number of existing mobile user who switched carriers or created new accounts just to purchase the iPhone that would be more telling and insightful? The iPhone per population is off-base.
Ed
"I’m sure they won’t say other wise."
The actual numbers will be excellent and will be in the next quarterly report
Thanks you a glowing article about Apple."
They deserve the praise; people have suffered junk phones (Windows mobile, etc) for way too long.
Great product? My iphone rots. It already broke. Just as my shuffle and nano did. AAPL stinks. I am never going back.
K, I am not sure why people are so sassy in these comments. Spell errors or not, gloryfying article or not. This was just an information tit bit, otherwise I woundlt have know that IPhone did well in Britain. If I need to know more about it, I will research for articles that gives me more insight.
Stop complaining!!!!
"Britains" snapped up iPhones????? Geez, I can' believe you actually wrote that. I'm not even British and know they are referred to as "Britons." At least you didn't claim some silly fluke was responsible for the good sales rather than that it's just a great product.
regardless of the numbers, this a new market not just for aapl as a company, but to the type of cellphone itself. The reason why people are indeed buying this new phone is because the conventional manufacturer such as Motorola and Nokia, are not offering consumers anything new. AAPl had done that by packaging technology inside a sleek, fun, cool case. had aapl reinvented the wheel? no, it just used a different color paint.
"But Apple’s partners in both the U.K. and Germany, where the iPhone went on sale Friday at midnight, insist that sales met or exceeded their expectations."
I'm sure they won't say other wise.
Thanks you a glowing article about Apple.
I just can't wait until Apple comes out with their new video game system. It is scheduled for fourth quarter 2009 to second quarter 2010. I heard that an iPhone or iPod Touch software development will allow these devics to be used as controllers for the system. I also heard that the Apple system will have a 500GB hard drive and will feature a new version of Halo. This could turn out to be a major flop for Apple if this system is not successful. But if it proves as successful as the PS1 was, Apple's stock will shoot to $400 a share with no problem.