iPhone struggling to match US success in UK?

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 26 Nov 2007 at 16:29

The iPhone appears to be struggling to match the runaway success of its US launch in the UK.

Leaked figures suggest the phone might have sold fewer than 30,000 units in the first fortnight on sale - a long way short of Apple's stated target of 200,000 before the end of 2007.

Industry watchers claim the iPhone's hefty price tag - £269 plus £35 per month contract - may have put off British buyers. "I suspect a number of users went into O2 stores knowing the device was £269, and thought there was an opportunity to do a deal," says Geoff Blaber, director of devices at research firm, CCS Insight. "I think that's been a big shock."

"In the UK, it's up against a much more severe level of competition [than in the US]," Blaber adds. "If you compare the £269 iPhone to a number of products from the likes of Nokia and Sony Ericsson, all of which are directly cross-sold by the operators, there's a significant level of competition."

The US launch of the iPhone saw remarkable claims that the device had sold half a million units on its opening weekend. The lack of similar headlines in the UK raises questions, says Blaber. "If the iPhone had flown off the shelves, we'd inevitably have seen figures earlier than we have. [However] it's not necessarily an indication that demand is slow," he claims.

The iPhone's consumer-oriented focus might also be hampering adoption, with a quarter of all smartphone sales going to business users, according to CCS. "The [iPhone's] email configuration is very good from a consumer perspective, but integration with infrastructure such as Exchange and Domino is not really there," he claims.

Apple declined to comment on iPhone sales, saying that no official figures have yet been released and that any reports of sales were "purely speculation".