O2's iPhone Discounts Spur Sales

[MacRumors]

MobileToday reports that O2's £100 price drop on the iPhone last week successfully spurred sales. O2 stores in Newcastle, Birmingham, and London reportedly sold out on the day of the price cuts, while Carphone Warehouse stores noticed a sharp uptick in sales:

‘We usually sell one or two a day, but yesterday we sold about 20 – it was like launch day again.'

Customers are reassured that O2 expected more stock to be delivered this past weekend. Apple is said to be in talks with France Telecom to similarly drop the price of the iPhone in France, due to poor initial sales.

Earlier reports have claimed that the price cuts were put in place to clear inventory ahead of the expected 3G iPhone. An Italian report today pinpoints the 3G iPhone release in the next few weeks.

Article Link

[Grimace]

"We usually sell one or two a day"?!!? That stinks. Apple needs to sell over 27,000 per day to get to 10M units (worldwide) in 2008.

[arn]

sounds like the european market has been slower uptake than expected. I guess the 3G iPhone will help address that.

arn

[DMann]

Originally Posted by Grimace

"We usually sell one or two a day"? That stinks. Apple needs to sell over 27,000 per day to get to 10M units (worldwide) in 2008.

Once 3G hits the market, 10M will be reached and surpassed by the end of 2008.

[zap2]

And Apple begins to get "it"

Europe's market is a lot different then the US's

Now, give us a 3G iPhone, and everyone will be happy

[Zwhaler]

Let's hope they don't complain and say they were duped into clearing out old stock...

Kidding. But lets get this 3G iPhone on the road already.

[zync]

Originally Posted by Zwhaler

Let's hope they don't complain and say they were duped into clearing out old stock...

Kidding. But lets get this 3G iPhone on the road already.

Let's get it today! It's Tuesday where I am.

[chickenninja]

i still think they should be free.

[zainjetha]

I think this will boost sales enormously. people buying it and then jailbreaking it... ..

however, it appears that Apple Store is not taking part in £100 reduce/discount....

WHY???

[Grimace]

Originally Posted by zainjetha

I think this will boost sales enormously. people buying it and then jailbreaking it... ..

however, it appears that Apple Store is not taking part in £100 reduce/discount....

WHY???

It's an O2 subsidy.

[gugy]

damn, give me the damn 3G iPhone with 32gig now for $499!

[ebouwman]

Originally Posted by Grimace

"We usually sell one or two a day"?!!? That stinks. Apple needs to sell over 27,000 per day to get to 10M units (worldwide) in 2008.

Ya but who are the quoting? I'm pretty sure it's not a company exec, it's probably a quote from some guy working at a retail outlet, and god knows where, or how big of a store.

[Grimace]

Originally Posted by ebouwman

Ya but who are the quoting? I'm pretty sure it's not a company exec, it's probably a quote from some guy working at a retail outlet, and god knows where, or how big of a store.

Very true. It was a random sales associate. Another employee said that they usually sell 30 per day. I don't think Apple will have any problem reaching 10M iPhones in 2008 but it would be nice to start early on the 3G portion! (clearing out old 2.5G stock at a discounted rate sure seems to do the trick too.)

[randomrazor]

no sht sherlock ... i get tired of people trying to feel like they have all th e inside info on the iPhone.... I think everyone and their dog has stated that the iPhone is coming out in a few weeks... tell us something we don't know for once

[Lycanthrope]

You don't need to be a brain-surgeon to work-out why iPhone sales have been slack in Europe. For me the lack of 3G isn't the big issue it's rather just the pricing and the weakness of the dollar. They are so cheap for us to buy in the USA and so easy to unlock that paying full price in £ or € just isn't an option.

[aLoC]

So there's nothing wrong with it, it's just too pricey for folks. Perhaps they should not discontinue the lower capacity models in the coming months.

[irun5k]

I think 3G + the SDK/AppStore will really help things. Many people had said that it was not the greatest idea to release a non-3G phone in Europe. But, I guess at least it established the desired partnerships and retail channels.

Even with the price cut, I'm surprised anybody is buying the thing across the pond right now. Pretty much anybody and everybody expects a 3G variant by summer.

[ballmerretard]

I can't wait for the 3G iphone, I've waited so long already!

[edwdcook]

Aren't all these people going to be pissed when then new 3G phones are released in a few weeks?

[Jowl]

Originally Posted by edwdcook

Aren't all these people going to be pissed when then new 3G phones are released in a few weeks?

While I'm sure some will be, I was going to buy on then upgrade to 3G, passing on the 2.5G to the other half. The only thing that stopped me is I have 3 months left of my current mobile contract. I do think the £100 off is good deal though.

As it's been said before, Apple got it wrong in Europe - certainly the UK. We expect easy SMS to multiple people (yes, now fixed), MMS, at least a 3mp camera phone that can record video and 3G. With our subsidised phones we can send&recieve files/mp3s/pictures via Bluetooth too. We expect to be able to be able to do most of that at least from a top-end phone we have to pay for in full.

[Bye Bye Baby]

Originally Posted by Lycanthrope

You don't need to be a brain-surgeon to work-out why iPhone sales have been slack in Europe. For me the lack of 3G isn't the big issue it's rather just the pricing and the weakness of the dollar. They are so cheap for us to buy in the USA and so easy to unlock that paying full price in £ or € just isn't an option.

Finally someone who has said what most people are thinking. It is price my dear boy! First and foremost and then the fact that what you get is not what the market actually wants, i.e. no 3g.

Iphone was really expensive in Europe up until the price cut. Now it is a good, perhaps I should say better, price for what it is.

Imagine what sales would be if they sold an 8gig 3g phone, no contract, for the same price. I do think that would almost sell their promised 10 million units in a week, nay I say the first day?

If only...

[Bye Bye Baby]

Originally Posted by edwdcook

Aren't all these people going to be pissed when then new 3G phones are released in a few weeks?

I just bought an 8gig at the new price, knowing full well the benefits and the immanence of the new model. However, price will be an issue, at least for me. I think I would also like to wait for perhaps the second iteration of the 3g, perhaps if next year Apple shifts to intel processors?

And you can always upgrade your phone with existing contract. When the price of the new 3g drops!

[scharf10]

By chance my previous contract ended on the day before the price cut, so I walked in on the Wednesday and picked up the 2nd last one they had in the store at the cut price.

If my previous contract was longer I would have just waited on the 3G iPhone, but I know myself that i'll just upgrade once I've saved enough money after its release.

On a side note, one of the other shop workers was just away to head to another local 02 store to get more iPhones, so they must have been selling a fair few and that was only by 10:30ish in the morning.

Scharf.

[cal6n]

Originally Posted by arn

sounds like the european market has been slower uptake than expected. I guess the 3G iPhone will help address that.

arn

Slower than expected by whom, exactly?

More than a year ago, a few Europeans posted predictions that this level of pricing would be necessary in Europe before the iPhone was accepted by the mainstream. We were ridiculed and, in some cases, treated very rudely by posters who, having no understanding of the market here, insisted that the situation would be the same as in the US.

Those posters know who they are and an apology would be nice.

Probably not worth waiting for, though...

*edit* And yes, Arn, 3G may help address it, but if the price goes back up, the sales figures will go back down.

[swagi]

Originally Posted by Jowl

While I'm sure some will be, I was going to buy on then upgrade to 3G, passing on the 2.5G to the other half. The only thing that stopped me is I have 3 months left of my current mobile contract. I do think the £100 off is good deal though.

As it's been said before, Apple got it wrong in Europe - certainly the UK. We expect easy SMS to multiple people (yes, now fixed), MMS, at least a 3mp camera phone that can record video and 3G. With our subsidised phones we can send&recieve files/mp3s/pictures via Bluetooth too. We expect to be able to be able to do most of that at least from a top-end phone we have to pay for in full.

+1 for Germany

While I seriously am thinking about buying one for my quite technophobe wife, the obvious shortcomings of the iPhone stop me from buying one for myself.

The Nokia N95 is available with 8 GB for 1 € with a not so shabby contract here. The N96 just around the corner. So Apple better give me MMS and easy file sharing with my friends and my computer via Bluetooth. They better give me better options to edit profiles, select custom ringtones for special people, groups and stuff. And they should finally give me a tethering option to use my data connection on my laptop. I've done that with my 3G phone quite some time, when I'm on the road.

I don't give a damn about media player features and I could care less about mobile Safari, as Nokias WebKit isn't too shabby. Mobile Safari won't make me pay 300 bucks more on a phone with so many shortcomings!