12/05/2007, 9:15am, EST
Wednesday, December 5th
Orange sells 30,000 iPhones in five days
Orange sold approximately 30,000 iPhones within the first five days of their availability in France, one French publication reports. What's more, Orange says that 20 percent of all French iPhones sold were unlocked -- or usable with cellular carriers other than Orange -- at a €750 premium vs. iPhones tied to Orange service, which sell for €400. Yesterday a German court overturned a previous injunction that forced Apple's carrier in the region to sell unlocked handsets in the same manner. [corrected]
More crucially for the phone carrier, 80 percent of buyers signed up for an iPhone-specific plan, while 48 percent were opening their first Orange account. "This confirms that the iPhone will actively contribute to the acquisition of new clients," comments Louis-Pierre Wenes, the executive director of Orange France.
The device itself costs €399 with a two-year subscription, or €749 unlocked; plans range in price from €49 to €119 per month. The iPhone launched in the country on November 28th from a mere 12 outlets, but spread to 680 the following day. Orange says it hopes to sell 50,000 to 100,000 iPhones by the end of the month, and then another 400,000 to 500,000 towards the end of 2008. Apple is estimated to have sold about 2 to 2.1 million iPhones total since the American iPhone launch in late June. [updated]
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Now if we can just get 10% of the China population to buy iPhones then my heart would rest lightly.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7128941.stm
Thanks!