iPhone price cut triggers UK sales rush
updated 06:30 pm EDT, Mon April 21, 2008
UK iPhones sell out
Sales of iPhones jumped rapidly throughout England last week, according to reports. O2 stores in London, Newcastle and Birmingham are said to have sold out entirely on April 16th, and only recently replenished their stocks. Meanwhile, a staffer from Carphone Warehouse's Oxford Street store in London says the location received a one-time doubling of daily sales from 30 to 60.
The rush coincided with a £100 drop in the cost of the 8GB phone, from £269 to £169. The cut is subsidized by O2, the iPhone's official UK carrier, and cannot be found at official Apple Stores. Similarly, the 16GB model is holding universally at the standard price of £329. It is widely believed that Apple and its carriers are clearing inventory in advance of a new 3G iPhone.
Analyst Ben Wood, of CCS Insight, argues that previously low iPhone sales have been due to a lack of subsidies, which many Europeans take for granted. It is common for Europeans to upgrade their phones without paying any extra fees, whereas the iPhone has not only been unsubsidized until this point, but has remained considerably more expensive than comparable smartphones.
Comparable Iphones?
04/21, 07:12pm reply
Another analist. There are no phones comparable to the Iphone.
starwarrior
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Joined: Mar 2006
monthly fees
04/21, 07:26pm reply
If they dropped the monthly line fee to something like 15 pounds (i dont mind paying more for the phone itself), then i would be on it like white on rice.
coldfusion1970
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Joined: Nov 2004
UK
04/21, 08:09pm reply
The UK does not equate to England, when will American writers stop confusing the fact that the United Kindom is a unitary state, not federal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_state
kyleharry
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Joined: Mar 2008
unitary state
04/21, 08:43pm reply
Yeh right, that is why Boston is in New United Kingdom?
I say go stick it up your unitary state.
chucker
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Joined: Mar 2007
with lower than...
04/21, 09:17pm reply
...expected iPhone sales, makes me wonder what would have been the number of iPhones sold in the UK if the price were £169.00?
MeandmyMac
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Joined: Feb 2008
It isn't the fact that...
04/22, 12:06am reply
they thought the iPhone was c***, it's just that those UKers over there don't believe in spending much money. This is a good thing.
What's this about Boston being the new UK? Just because they had some wanker tea party in Boston. I don't think so.
Constable Odo
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re: chucker
04/22, 03:54am reply
What?? Time for bed son, you have to be up early in the morning for school.
mr.mouse
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Joined: Feb 2008
UK iPhone
04/22, 03:58am reply
The iPhone in the UK is not a good deal, compared to the competition and does not fit the market in general. I may have an iPhone, but most people here just don't care. They want value for money, not to pay over the odds for a flashy GUI but half the features of a free phone on a £25 a month 12 month locked tariff.
After all, there are plenty of people here driving around in Fords when they should be driving BMWs, according to fanboy logic.
mr.mouse
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England/UK
04/22, 04:31am reply
England does not equal the UK. The editors might like to consider whether they will also break out their coverage to have separate discussions of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. If you equated England with the UK in Scotland, you would probably get punched - and rightly so. Those in the US have an extraordinarily small understanding of the world across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Guest
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Joined: Nov 1999
pricing in the EU...
04/22, 04:38am reply
the iphone is not more expensive than other smartphones...!!!
nokia smartphones are more expensive than iphones... and if one looks @ flickr statistics the iphone has surpassed the n95 by 100% this month...
smokeonit
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