Katie MarsalOrange, the mobile arm of France Telecom, said Wednesday that it sold nearly 30,000 of Apple's iPhone in the first five days the handset was available for sale on the French market.
Orange had previously said that it hoped to sell nearly 100,000 iPhones by the end of the calendar year, meaning it would have needed to move a bit more than 3,000 iPhones per day through the holidays. The initial 5-day tally eases that burden somewhat, reducing the per-day sales required to meet that milestone by 300 to approximately 2,700 per day.
Of those purchasing an iPhone in France, 80 percent chose to sign up for a dedicated "Orange for iPhone" plan at the same time, according to Orange, which also offers the handset unlocked and without service contracts. Nearly 50 percent of those purchasing the Apple phone were new to Orange or migrating from a rival carrier.
"This is a very good score, especially as one in two iPhone purchases is accompanied by a new Orange line subscription", said Louis-Pierre Wenes, Executive Director in charge of Orange's France operations. "This confirms that the iPhone will make an active contribution to the acquisition of new customers."
The rate at which French consumers are adopting iPhone appears to have far outpaced those in the UK following the handset's local launch in the region on November 9th. Though Apple's exclusive UK wireless provider, O2, has not released any sales data, reports suggested that the carrier activated just 26,500 of the touch-screen handsets during its initial two-weeks on the UK market.
Like Orange, O2 has stated that it also hopes to sell 100,000 units by the close of the year.
Wesley Hilliard
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
39 Comments
I thought France hates Apple. Did they put a picture of Jerry Lewis on every box?
I thought France hates Apple. Did they put a picture of Jerry Lewis on every box?
It's microsoft they hate, not Apple. France is gonna suck up to Apple like everyone else once they get the acquired taste. Once they taste it ,,, hooked for life..
I thought France hates Apple. Did they put a picture of Jerry Lewis on every box?
Registered just to respond...
It's Apple that hates France (like when Americans say that France hates US, when you read forums on the net it is the exact contrary). Why ?
No Apple store in France, when there is an Apple Expo in Paris the official Apple stand is quite inexistent, Steve Jobs doesn't come and there is never any new product announced (exactly when a new product is presented in an another country at not even an Apple show). Add to the fact that prices of Apple products are 20% to 40% more expensive in France?
I really wonder what make you think that ?
Registered just to respond...
It's Apple that hates France (like when Americans say that France hates US, when you read forums on the net it is the exact contrary). Why ?
No Apple store in France, when there is an Apple Expo in Paris the official Apple stand is quite inexistent, Steve Jobs doesn't come and there is never any new product announced (exactly when a new product is presented in an another country at not even an Apple show). Add to the fact that prices of Apple products are 20% to 40% more expensive in France…
I really wonder what make you think that ?
What a bunch of nonsense.. Many important Apple products were presented at the Apple expo over the years. (Max Os X beta for one, the iMac G5 another) Jobs has been several times to the Expo maybe not recently, but then since 2004 he has cut down his presence significantly anyway because of his health. He was there in 2003, 2002, 2000... 2001 was cancelled due to 911. In 2005 and 2006 he didn't give a keynote but a press conference.
Apple has no Apple Store? Many countries have no Apple Sotre, does that mean Apple hates those countries too?
Apple products are more expensive in France? All tech product are more expensive in France, actually, they are more expensive anywhere in the EU compared to the US.
What a bunch of nonsense.. Many important Apple products were presented at the Apple expo over the years. Jobs has been several times to the Expo, maybe not recently, but then he has cut down his presence significantly anyway.
Apple has no Apple Store? Many countries have no Apple Sotre, does that mean Aplle hates those countries too?
Apple products are more expensive in France? All tech product are more expensive in France, actually, they are more expensive anywhere in the EU compared to the US.
No, Apple's mark-up in Europe is far higher than anyone else's (just compare the prices on Apple's US and European online stores, and then on Dell's).
Why Apple do this, I don't know, because it's crippling their business here.