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

[gnasher729]

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.

They are giving percentages of smartphones.

If of all phone customers both in the USA and say Germany 10% buy iPhones, but in the USA 30% have replaced their old dumb phone with the cheapest Android phone they could find, and in Germany 40% have done the same, then the US smartphone market share for the iPhone is 10% out of 40% = 25%, but in Germany it is 10% out of 50% = 20% (I pulled the numbers out of my hat, but you can see the principle).

And if in France every driver buys a phone for 10 Euro and puts it in the glove compartment for emergencies, and if nobody does that in the USA, then you would find that the iPhone market share (and the smartphone market share) is much lower in France than everywhere else, which is why these numbers are garbage.

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).

Android owners can't afford to sit in cafes and drink expensive coffee

The reality is that most Android owners just bought a phone to replace their old one, don't care the slightest bit about Android, and only pull their phone out to make phone calls.

Im from Europe and Ill tell you why.

You're from Europe? Where from? Albania? Romania? Greece? Serbia? Iceland? Norway? Denmark? Portugal?

"I'm from Europe" is the most pointless thing that you could say, because it means that 90% or more of Europeans have very little in common with you and your life experience.

 

[Reborn]

but other than that, the race to the bottom helps consumers pay less.

By paying less you get less. Usually.

 

[indubio80]

Hmmmm....

Headline should read:

iPhone Sales Strong In Countries With Loads of Money, Not Strong In Countries Who Are Broke.

lol. As if this is news

Hmm, you might need to check on your sources. Compared to the US and esp. the UK, Germany has a really strong going economy and it is not nearly as broke as the US or the UK are. That is also why all the other countries want our money . And yes, we are all very poor, driving around in our Mercedes', BMWs and Porsches, buying smartphones and having full healthcare insurance for EVERYONE. When some friends from the US (Portland OR) came to visit Germany, they had a really hard time going out and having dinner for ex., because everything was so expensive for them (Dollar/EUR). And they were really impressed at how wealthy people are over here. And from what I have seen during my one-year-stay time in PDX, they are not poor there either.

 

[Xenomorph]

Galaxy Nexus has:

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

iPhone has none of that.

You're leaving something out. iOS. No Android device has that.

 

[*LTD*]

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.

It also results in a whole lotta junk. Apple brings up the property value of the segment.

 

[mikecorp]

well...

if the sales dropped that is quite understandable. UK, Australia, USA are inside their own country and do not need to pay high roaming costs.

In Europe many people travel between countries and roaming on cell phone is way to expensive. So what is the point to buy this supper gadgets, if you can not use them.

Roaming supposed to be abolished in 2015, but we need data service and that will take ages to get reasonable prices.

 

[Ries]

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.

Anyone you have to buy the phone separate (full price), for me its the cheapest option. Another strategy is to buy subsidized for 6 month, then switch to the cheap plan.

Denmark.

 

[fifthworld]

Unsubsidized and very expensive in most European countries, thanks also to a crazy 19 to 23% sales tax and much higher cost of doing business there. Add that Siri doesn't work for most languages, what do you expect?

 

[Reborn]

You're leaving something out. iOS. No Android device has that.

Not to mention that LTE is useless without coverage and android 4 is no advantage. Oh and NFS will really take off only when Apple shows how it's done.

 

[paul4339]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

But how are the economic fears in the U.S or U.K different from continental Europe? That doenst make sense.....

They probably lump the eurozone countries together because of the currency. So when there's fear about the Euro being in trouble due to defaulting loans it cause lots of reactions. The fear isn't as bad in other nations (it's not all over news) so the reaction (consumer purchase habits) is different. (fear is not necessarily reality)

Australia, Canada, NZ economies are commodity influenced, and commodities have been doing well (so regardless of reality, there's greater optimism.)

.

 

[farleysmaster]

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

What about your family members in Australia and the US?

 

[Pez555]

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..

pretty much this. Apple will probably soon need a redesign every year with Android growing in strength. Bring on iPhone 5....

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)



I tend to agree with this statement.

Americans are too worried about being "swagged out". They'll pay whatever they need to in order to feel cool or important.

 

[farleysmaster]

They probably lump the eurozone countries together because of the currency. So when there's fear about the Euro being in trouble due to defaulting loans it cause lots of reactions. The fear isn't as bad in other nations (it's not all over news) so the reaction (consumer purchase habits) is different. (fear is not necessarily reality)

Australia, Canada, NZ economies are commodity influenced, and commodities have been doing well (so regardless of reality, there's greater optimism.)

.

The UK economy is pretty well linked to the Eurozone, I'm sure there's few people in the UK, whose current financial situation and spending decisions, aren't linked to the Euro-crisis in some way.

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pretty much this. Apple will probably soon need a redesign every year with Android growing in strength. Bring on iPhone 5....

It makes more sense as an upgrade over the 3GS (If I had an iPhone 4, I probably wouldn't have upgraded). The new screen, camera, processor speed, storage space are al bigger deals to me than Siri.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

You're leaving something out. iOS. No Android device has that.

Actually... technically they both are based on *nix.

 

[paul4339]

The UK economy is pretty well linked to the Eurozone, I'm sure there's few people in the UK, whose current financial situation and spending decisions, aren't linked to the Euro-crisis in some way.

It is. As well as the US. But more important it's often the news that drives consumer to spend (or not).

 

[lilo777]

You're leaving something out. iOS. No Android device has that.

Well, but that's a good thing. No iOS means:

* file system
* rich UI (how long can one take staring at grids of icons?)
* USB connection to PC
* excellent free navigation
* Street View (integrated with navigation and allowing the driver to see the pictures of the next turn intersection)
* seamless integration with the most advanced Cloud services (from Google)

There is noting in iOS that Android does not have.

 

[Swift]

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..

Sure you're not a mole on MacRumors from Big Helsinki?

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pretty much this. Apple will probably soon need a redesign every year with Android growing in strength. Bring on iPhone 5....

Let's see how things work out when Apple unveils its version of 4G.

Your whole premise is screwed up. Apple brings out a version a year. Or this time, 18 months or so. Before you pronounce the iPhone dead, let's hear the sales figures, which will be out of the park.

As for which is "superior," I say the iOS. None of the terrible deficits people list mean squat to me. No file system? Good! By the way, Mac has different programs, some very cheap indeed, with constantly updating maps and voice directions, traffic, etc. I guess Google pooped out on providing the same thing free to Apple, because they're open. It's perplexing, because Google makes as much on each Android as it does on an iPhone -- in ad dollars; and they don't have to pay the Apple engineers at all.

Google's just another monopolist.

 

[blackburn]

Lot's of people in Europe still think that blackberry is the way to go. I tested the playbook but the only good thing about it was it's size.
Another thing is (least from what I see) many people don't give a rats ass about the phone, as long it does calls and sms then it's okay. Most people can't even sync contacts to their phones.
I also don't see many advertisements featuring the iPhone yet many for samsung.
Another issue is the price, the sweet spot seems to be 200 eur without contract for a phone (in Portugal at least).
On the bright side the unlocked iPhone 4S looks a lot cheaper than the iPhone 4 was 630€ vs 1000€ (16GB).

edit: People are very careful about spending money due to the economical crisis so most opt for the cheaper things. With that the stores are wary of keeping stocks of expensive things, they even gave me an 110 eur discount buying an ipad since they aren't selling tablets that much.

 

[Sedrick]

Aren't these the majority of the english speaking countries? maybe its to do with siri which is the major selling point of the 4s.

Na, they've just wised up that Siri isn't worth upgrading your phone for. And it's pathetic that Siri is considered a major selling point for the 4s. Damn pathetic.

 

[newcronos]

I guess now we know in which countries Apple will come up with a lawsuit next.

 

[blackburn]

I guess now we know in which countries Apple will come up with a lawsuit next.

Free advertising

 

[JHankwitz]

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.

Could be that Seri hasn't been implemented as well in non-English speaking phones?

 

[MrWillie]

Well, but that's a good thing. No iOS means:

<snip>

* seamless integration with the most advanced Cloud services (from Google)

There is noting in iOS that Android does not have.

*** Disclaimer*** I am assuming you meant nothing instead of noting.

What about malware and data mining that is so common with Android. Google only provides "free" services so they can mine and sell your data, and target you with ads.

 

[Erwin-Br]

You're from Europe? Where from? Albania? Romania? Greece? Serbia? Iceland? Norway? Denmark? Portugal?

"I'm from Europe" is the most pointless thing that you could say, because it means that 90% or more of Europeans have very little in common with you and your life experience.

So? Texans are very different from Californians too. Is it pointless to say "I'm from the US" as well?

I find it very sad that we Europeans care so much about a stupid line drawn on the map.