Katie MarsalDespite a very familiar set of limitations, the iPhone is showing continued demand in Europe and leading its immediate rivals, says RBC analyst Michael Abramsky.
France has so far proven the most immediately successful of the three nations, having registered roughly 63,000 customers on Orange's website amid reports of sellouts at some of the cellular provider's Parisian stores. Britain's O2 sold between 30,000 and 40,000 iPhones on its first weekend.
Surprisingly, reports from all three countries point to the device outrunning competitors that should theoretically fare better than the iPhone due to features or price. Phones like the HTC Touch or LG Prada are often heavily subsidized or offer features that the iPhone lacks, but are still being outsold by Apple's first offering.
The iPhone is even outselling Nokia's well-known N95 smartphone, which has sold more than a million units in the UK since its March release, the analyst writes.
Europeans are still hesitant to buy the iPhone due to the lack of fast 3G Internet access, its stripped-down Bluetooth feature set, and an unusually high price. However, the statistics suggest that a future 3G iPhone will be more of a pleasant upside to the iPhone's sales than an absolute necessity, Abramsky notes.
The strength of the iPhone is leading RBC to increase its total iPhone forecast to 12.5 million phones sold worldwide by the end of calendar 2008, 25 percent higher than Apple's stated goal of 10 million. About 4 million of these will come from buyers outside the US and may include countries such as Canada, Italy, and Spain, all of whom are top candidates to receive the iPhone next year.
A popular iPhone in Europe could also result in a "halo" that translates to increased sales for the Mac on the continent, according to the report.
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52 Comments
I think it's more the olah effect meaning Apple's success in Europe with the iPod and Macs will translate into higher than expected iPhone sales.
I think it's more the olah effect meaning Apple's success in Europe with the iPod and Macs will translate into higher than expected iPhone sales.
I don't care what the explanation is. I just hope people will remember that the 'experts' have been saying for weeks that the iPhone won't sell in Europe - and maybe they'll stop believing the Apple-bashing 'experts'.
I don't care what the explanation is. I just hope people will remember that the 'experts' have been saying for weeks that the iPhone won't sell in Europe - and maybe they'll stop believing the Apple-bashing 'experts'.
They may be selling but I've still not seen anyone using one and I live in Central London. If people are buying them, where are they..?
Maybe they're inside because they don't have to wander around outside looking for a good 3G signal.
Now, I'm THOROUGHLY confused. Remember this AI headline from just a few days ago?:Reports: UK consumers slow to adopt Apple's iPhone
According to a recent report by the Register citing reliable channel sources, exclusive UK iPhone carrier O2 has activated just 26,500 iPhones since its launch two weeks ago, well below expectations of about 100,000 units...
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...es_iphone.htmlSo... which is it? \
Even adjusting upwards to the current article's "Britain's O2 sold between 30,000 and 40,000 iPhones on its first weekend", isn't that still 'well below' expectations of 100,000 units for the UK??
The German results also do not seem strong... only 10K units sold on launch day, compared to 270K units sold in the US during launch weekend? So why then does said RBC analyst seem to be bullish? The French results? The ability of the iPhone to outsell other, older phones during launch? Gosh, you'd think it'd be able to, that's the time of the highest hype and pent-up demand.
In any case, as a shareholder, I'm hoping that Apple does at least okay during launch, once the figures are sorted out. That's the easy part.
Getting and keeping those sales numbers high over the long haul is the real (and difficult) task.
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