Why Is The iPhone a UK Disaster?
We recently covered how T-Mobile Germany dropped their iPhone prices and as predicted O2 followed shortly afterwards by also lowering their iPhone prices. In a seemingly desperate attempt to clear out stocks. But why is the iPhone a total disaster in the UK?
Number 1.
Here in the UK, (Im not totally sure about other countries such as the USA) we tend to get our new phones for free when we sign up to a new contract, a ton of minutes and a ton of texts, especially for £35 ($70) a month. Maybe this is a little odd, but I guess we can shed out a bit of cash for a new piece of technology, right?
Number 2.
Restricted to O2? Or any other specific carrier in other Countries. Nobody wants restrictions, we want competition, lower prices, I dont want to change my Network and neither does anyone else. Its quite clear that Apple sold the iPhone to the largest companies around, O2 and AT&T, a smart move perhaps? Not really. By restricting networks you miss out on everyone else, they may have a smaller market share but it sure as hell adds up.
Number 3.
They havn’t done anything about it. Apple know that their sales are poor, they know that O2 are overflowing with iPhones that no one wants. Yet still Apple have made no changes to their business plan.. All we can hope is this will all change in the near future.
I can honestly say, this brings a smile to my face, knowing that even a fantastic piece of technology, that the iPhone is. Was a complete failiure. Its good to know that people are still willing to miss out on the things they want when there are restrictions in place and the price isnt right. Now Apple has no choice but to try something else with the 3G iPhone in the UK otherwise they will regret it.
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I doubt the 3G will be offered in the UK with different terms. Granted, I don’t live there so I don’t have the insight you do. But I strongly believe lack of 3G is one of the biggest factors stopping people from getting the iPhone over there. Have you read about how people use their phone for just about everything except making calls? That speaks to how important 3G is.
April 20th, 2008 at 2:36 am -
None of those points address why the iPhone was less successful in the UK than it was in the states. All those same restrictions and business plans are available in the US, yet people are still flocking to stores to get them. All companies in the US also offer free phones along with cell phone contracts, but it’s unrealistic to think you can get a $400-500 piece of hardware for free for purchasing a separate service from a separate company. Granted, being tied to a single service carrier is unfortunate, but it was a necessary move (at least in the US) in order to move the cell phone business forward, which Apple clearly has.
I think it has less to do with what Apple offered in the UK and more about Apple’s greater popularity in the states, especially California.
April 20th, 2008 at 6:34 am -
I work for o2, checking out our latest Q1 sales statistics… we have now sold out of every iPhone in all the o2 warehouses.. (and i think its similar for CPW)
(The store i was working in on launch night was a fairly small store..On the launch night, we had a line of 30 people waiting for the iPhone, with reports of some of the larger stores (Birmingham Bull Ring, Gallowtree etc) had lines of 200+ waiting for it..
As for prices, it was an issue… especially with the first tariff launched (200 mins, 200 texts) it really did thretten the look of the sales.. 95% of sales were to hardcore apple fans..
Then once they raised the tariff to 600 mins, 500 texts.. we then started getting more sales of the general public.. and finally since they droped the price of the 8GB model to £169… that saw the biggest boom of sales what finaly finnished of the rest of the stock!
May 21st, 2008 at 10:35 pm -
how long does lortab stay in your system…
lortab uses…
August 4th, 2008 at 5:20 pm -
Good for people to know.
October 29th, 2008 at 8:57 am
