iPhone Sales Strong in U.S., U.K. and Australia, Weaker in Much of Europe

[HMonivar]

Where's SIRI?

Hi,

In my opinion the main reason is that SIRI, the only real difference appart from speed, is not available for non english speaking countries.

It would be like releasing an only English version of Lion.

Hugo

 

[bushido]

If what I heard about European data plans is true, it's insanely expensive to have a smart phone with a plan there. I wouldn't get one if I were in Europe.

And the fact that the iPhone is selling so well in the U.S. is surprising. Everyone is complaining about the bad economy, yet most Americans have smartphones, and (I think) most of those are iPhones. Also, you'd think people worried about their economy would buy the cheapo Samsung garbage, but they go for the $200+ iPhone with very high rates. I just use the iPod Touch and use random wifi.

i just ordered the iPhone 4S 16 GB for 1 Euro including a 34 euro plan which includes a unlimited data plan. not expensive here at all

 

[manu chao]

well, buying an identical phone (basically), just because it has a voice assistant for 600$ doesn't make much sense to the average european consumer.. maybe..

So, in what way is the current Samsung Galaxy flagship different from last year's flagship?
- dual-core, yet the iPhone 4s has that as well
- better camera, yet the iPhone has that as well
- even larger screen

Is that really it? Are people buying new Galaxies but not new iPhones because jumping from 4 to 4.3" is so important?

 

[lilo777]

Just got back from Paris and Barcelona. I can not comment on sales, but I was very surprised how many iPhone 4's (how do you pluralize without adding a confusion? ) I saw in europe. Not as big as a percentage as Los Angeles (where I think it looks like 90% - the other 10% includes my wife) but still it was at least 25-50% iPhone's I saw in cafe's.

Cafe is the key word here. Many iPhone owners go to cafes just to show their phones. It does not mean that the percentage of iPhones in general population is the same (we know it for a fact that iPhone is about half the share of Android).

 

[kaizenmx]

Europeans are smart people. Much smarter than Americans and Aussies.

Maybe that's why.

 

[bushido]

Hi,

In my opinion the main reason is that SIRI, the only real difference appart from speed, is not available for non english speaking countries.

It would be like releasing an only English version of Lion.

Hugo

what r u talking about, Siri speaks other languages including german

 

[lilo777]

So, in what way is the current Samsung Galaxy flagship different from last year's flagship?
- dual-core, yet the iPhone 4s has that as well
- better camera, yet the iPhone has that as well
- even larger screen

Is that really it? Are people buying new Galaxies but not new iPhones because jumping from 4 to 4.3" is so important?

Galaxy Nexus has:

* HD screen (first phone HD screen on the market)
* NFC
* new OS (Android 4.0)
* LTE

iPhone has none of that.

 

[Ries]

If what I heard about European data plans is true, it's insanely expensive to have a smart phone with a plan there. I wouldn't get one if I were in Europe.

And the fact that the iPhone is selling so well in the U.S. is surprising. Everyone is complaining about the bad economy, yet most Americans have smartphones, and (I think) most of those are iPhones. Also, you'd think people worried about their economy would buy the cheapo Samsung garbage, but they go for the $200+ iPhone with very high rates. I just use the iPod Touch and use random wifi.

I pay 12$/month for 3GB data including unlimited sms, when you hit the limit they may throttle you connection down to 64kbit/s, but any extra usage won't cost. 0.08 cent/min. And for additional 4$/month I get unlimited talk with others at the carrier. And I can cancel the plan anytime i want.

 

[Reborn]

do you understand we are talking market share?

do you understand there are reasons why it isnt selling as good as the english countries? it's not just about the economy, those are tanking accross the western world in case you didnt notice, and here in holland but also germany the situation isnt worse than england or the us that do have strong iphone sales.

and lose the attitude kid

Jesus ****ing christ. Do you understand that marketshare number alone are useless.

I'm repeating:

Just an example.

In 2012 Apple sells 20 000 000 iPhones and there are 50 000 000 Androids sold.

Marketshare: iPhone 28.57, Android 72,43.

In 2013 Apple sells 35 000 000 iPhones and there are 120 000 000 Androids sold.

Marketshare: iPhone 22,58, Android 77,42


So, what does that mean? Even if iPhone marketshare decreases they are still selling more iphone than a year before.

That's the case here. Apple sells more iPhones than a year before, but they can't match all the crap sold, so marketshare goes down a bit.
Marketshare:

 

[manu chao]

Also, iPhones seems to never be subsidized in Europe, that probably makes them a little more daunting financially to adopt.

iPhones are definitely subsidized a lot in Europe but a lot are also not subsidized. In the US the carriers subsidize the iPhone more than other high-end phones, that gives them an advantage they have less so in Europe.

 

[mabaker]

If you look around the streets of Düsseldorf or Cologne many people are using iPhones - mostly 3G or 3Gs, though since they not feel the need to upgrade. iPhone 3G is in my opinion still a very capable device. Also the design of the original iPhone is timeless. Overall I think people here are more conscious not to buy the greatest and latest when the older generation is as well built and is working as reliably.

 

[manu chao]

Does Siri work in languages other than English?

It works in German and French as well (but not quite as well). That is certainly a factor that makes the 4S less appealing in non-English speaking countries.

 

[faroZ06]

I pay 12$/month for 3GB data including unlimited sms, when you hit the limit they may throttle you connection down to 64kbit/s, but any extra usage won't cost. 0.08 cent/min. And for additional 4$/month I get unlimited talk with others at the carrier. And I can cancel the plan anytime i want.

Wait on what phone and what country? In the US, the cheapest we can get data at is $30/month, and somewhere less than 3GB.

 

[Christianopolas]

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But how are the economic fears in the U.S or U.K different from continental Europe? That doenst make sense...
Most contracts are subject to 24 months and if you look back the Iphone 4 isnt around for that long so I reckon most people are just not keen to spent another crazy amount of money on something that looks and does the same thing.
I understand the sales go up in Australia because they are with Germany the only ones doing economically well besides smaller countries like Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, Norway and a few others that obviously only generate relatively small sales due to their population size.
The headline suggests that there might be a correlation between Anglo-Saxion countries and Iphone sales due to economical differences. In my opionion thats rubbish as the two largest English speaking economies are well behind some continental Euro-Zone countries.

It all doesnt make a difference anyways its just phones and sales figures....pretty boring stuff really

 

[0098386]

None of my family members in mainland Europe have smart phones.
Then again none of my family members in England do either.

 

[Brian Buttplug]

Very true indeed! Poor people that don't have any money do tend to buy crappy, cheap, poorly made Android smartphones. Probably with prepaid minutes, and on BOGO free family plans for them and their poor families.

I bet Android was built specifically for poor people or people with very little money. Thank goodness Apple made the iPhone for people with tons of cash burning holes in their pockets.



Right. I bet Android is making a killing in that country.

Africa is not a country

 

[eNcrypTioN]

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wonder why this doesn't bring results in Europe? I know some Europeans and they have pretty much the same electronics as us. Well maybe they aren't as common however.

well, buying an identical phone (basically), just because it has a voice assistant for 600$ doesn't make much sense to the average european consumer.. maybe..

I tend to agree with this statement.

 

[hamlin]

I am a little confused of how Canada isn't included in this...

I'm in Ontario and everyone I see has an iphone.

 

[Sensamic]

Im from Europe and Ill tell you why. Here we can buy almost any phone unlocked, and Europe is tradicionally coming from Symbian, so now almost everyone jumps to Android, specially because here people love big screens and high end technology. Here people trust more on brands like Samsung, Nokia, etc.

Apple has always been stronger on USA.

 

[Reborn]

Im from Europe and Ill tell you why. Here we can buy almost any phone unlocked, and Europe is tradicionally coming from Symbian, so now almost everyone jumps to Android, specially because here people love big screens and high end technology. Here people trust more on brands like Samsung, Nokia, etc.

Apple has always been stronger on USA.

I'm from Europe too and i say this is biggest BS i've heard today.

----------

Galaxy Nexus has:

* HD screen (first phone HD screen on the market)
* NFC
* new OS (Android 4.0)
* LTE

iPhone has none of that.

WOW. What a useless list.

 

[rmwebs]

Does Siri work in languages other than English?

It doesn't work with accents. Welsh, Irish and Scottish users have had huge problems. Guess Apple didn't care about implementing that part just yet.

 

[smali]

I think it isn't fair to say poor people will always go for cheapo phones. I don't really make much these days but I still have an iphone 4S on unlimited data plan...

Why? I don't waste my money on crap that doesn't benefit me in any way, so it's fairly easy to afford stuff like an iPhone if you really want one.

 

[rmwebs]

I'm from Europe too and i say this is biggest BS i've heard today.

Seconded. In fact most people in the UK are now being locked into 24 month contracts.

 

[Reborn]

I think it isn't fair to say poor people will always go for cheapo phones. I don't really make much these days but I still have an iphone 4S on unlimited data plan...

Why? I don't waste my money on crap that doesn't benefit me in any way, so it's fairly easy to afford stuff like an iPhone if you really want one.

Obviously there are millions that don't understand this and go for crap instead.

 

[dacapo]

It's the classic race to the bottom. Typical horizontal business model phenomenon. Something I'm glad Apple is avoiding at all costs, even at the cost of market share.

Why would you be glad about this strictly from a consumer's perspective? Yes, I'd understand it if you were an investor in AAPL, but other than that, the race to the bottom helps consumers pay less.