UK iPhone sales miss target

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 21 Jan 2008 at 10:55

O2 has sold only 190,000 iPhones, missing sales targets it announced before the UK launch, reports the Financial Times.

O2 claimed in November that it expected to sell 200,000 units in the first two months after launch, with research firm Gartner estimating that sales could double that figure.

However, queues outside shops before the UK launch of the iPhone were far smaller than those in the US, and leaked figures during the following months suggested that sales had been slower than expected.

The Financial Times claim that these figures have emerged from those "familiar with the situation", but O2 has reportedly been banned from commenting on sales figures by Apple.

Despite missing its targets, O2 told the Financial Times that the iPhone is still the fastest selling handset by "a significant margin", and Steve Jobs announced at MacWorld last week that 4,000,000 iPhones have been sold worldwide.

O2 were unavailable for comment at the time of writing.