11/08/2007, 9:05am, EST
Thursday, November 8th
iPhone lineup forms at Regent Street store
In advance of the iPhone's UK launch, scheduled for 6:02PM on November 9th, lineups have already begun forming, reports indicate. A handful of people are said to be waiting in front of the flagship Regent Street Apple Store in London, dressed for the cold weather and resting on folding chairs. Between 2PM and 6:02PM tomorrow, those in line will be the only customers at the store, as the building will be closed to prepare for the iPhone's European debut.
While impressive by the standards of most product launches, the lineup pales next to those for the original American launch, which in the case of the Fifth Avenue store in New York City began forming a full four days before the June 29th release date. The iPhone faces more of an uphill struggle in the UK; Europeans are more accustomed to 3G broadband, which Apple's device lacks, and shoppers have already had forewarning of other potential drawbacks, such as "bricking" if users attempt to unlock their phones.
O2, the official UK carrier, says it expects as many as 200,000 iPhones to be sold through Christmas and New Year's, via Apple, Carphone Warehouse and O2 itself. This compares to the same number of phones sold during the American launch weekend, but Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Gartner, suggests that a more realistic UK sales target is 350,000 to 400,000 within two months.
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I know I'm supposed to say UK instead of England...but if I do say UK, I want it to be clear, I'm still not talking about Wales.
OK, well glad to see the UK getting the iPhone. I agree its iPhone 2.0 that will be the interesting one. 3rd party apps, 3g, and maybe someday supported unlocked phones, would make this huge.
Population of the UK is under 1/5th of the US. The iPhone is launching AFTER the iPod Touch (which is what I've gone with). In addition, the contract is $70 a month, vs $20 for (1Gb per month) 3G access from my MacBook. All those are factors against the iPhone selling in the same way in the UK.
Um, doesn't that just mean there's more idiots in the US? Or, at the very least, three idiots in the US who've got nothing better to do with their life then stand in line for four days (since it was 3 people at first, took a while for the other fools.....er.....customers to get in line).
Sure, a month from now, when 10 people in a group have iPhones, I'm sure at least one of them will care they stood in line for a couple of days to get theirs, while the others will just feel that sense of superiority (not to mention the noticable lack of a hacking cough caused by standing in the cold for a couple of days) of knowing they could just show up the day after and still get one.