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

[arbitter]

It's funny how all the Americans say Europeans are poor. It's not because everyone deserves health care that the rest of us are poor.

I myself don't own an iPhone. The fact is that 850 euro for a 64 GB phone is quite expensive. As a matter of fact, I don't have a smartphone. Thing is, I have an iPod Touch, at the time it was 370 euro for a 32 GB, and it still works so I don't see the need of a 850 euro investment to get a newer device. Also, when going to a festival or so, I can simply take my crap-phone, and then I don't need to worry about it breaking or so, and thus losing gazzilion euro.

You see a lot of smartphones around here, but many are crappy 200 euro Android phones that crash a few times a week. I do have quite a few friends that have iPhone's though, but I just don't see the need for the investment. I don't see the major improvement of the iPhone over a much cheaper Android-phone. Yes iOS is nice, but that doesn't cover the expensiveness for me.

 

[lilo777]

*** 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.

Just like in iOS, there is no ads in Android OS. There are ads in Android apps (just like they exist in iOS apps) but this is true only for free apps, the paid ones do not have any ads. So, even if Google sold something to somebody I would not know it. Then, of course, I doubt that Google sells something that other don't.

 

[brdeveloper]

Nothing new. I doubt iPhone is a top smartphone seller in Latin America, a market of around 400M people. In other BRICS, it's also very expensive. Also, I doubt iPhone sells very well in the Latin Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Romania, etc). Siri doesn't speak latin languages and without Siri the iPhone 4S doesn't add much value over iPhone 4.

While US, UK, Germany, France and Japan are healthy economies, everything goes well, but Apple is not immune to a crisis in north hemisphere. Apple must change its business model to fit other countries' cultural and economic reality.

 

[bushido]

i just upgraded from my black 4 to an 4S because i wanted a white phone for a change ^^ siri is just a neat bonus

 

[rovex]

I recall distinctly a couple of folks from Spain saying demand for apple products was high amongst the younger population (despite the exemplary unemployment figures) with this news only vindicating the contrary.

 

[macbook pro i5]

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..

Best mobile cpu(benchmarks don't lie)
bluetooth 4.0
siri
Best mobile gpu (its true)
8 MP camera which is ONE OF THE BEST so you can't put words in my mouth
HSDPA+(which is 4g because soo many android phones are marketed as 4g even though it is only HSDPA+
1080P recording.
but yeah its basically the same phone

 

[AppleScruff1]

Siri makes a lot of errors with clearly spoken English. I can't imagine it being better anywhere else.

 

[macbook pro i5]

Galaxy Nexus has:

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

iPhone has none of that.

Incorrect iOS 5 is the new update so it has a new OS.And what happened to last years retina display on the 4 and NFC is just useless its just a gimmick.look at it this way you take your wallet out take your card out and swipe or you unlock your phone open app or what ever and there is no time difference.as for LTE well its not prime time think of the battery any way iPhone has HSDPA+ and blue tooth 4.0 which android phone have that? what about stability(I know because I have and android phone but my dad has his iPhone 4s and we are swapping).Son,you just got owned.

 

[kaizenmx]

Incorrect iOS 5 is the new update so it has a new OS.And what happened to last years retina display on the 4 and NFC is just useless its just a gimmick.look at it this way you take your wallet out take your card out and swipe or you unlock your phone open app or what ever and there is no time difference.as for LTE well its not prime time think of the battery any way iPhone has HSDPA+ and blue tooth 4.0 which android phone have that? what about stability(I know because I have and android phone but my dad has his iPhone 4s and we are swapping).Son,you just got owned.

Does iphone for ass have 4g network? Nope. Better screen? Nope. Bigger screen? Nope. It's outdated in specs compared to Nexus in every possible way. A5? useless unless you are a heavy gamer on a freaking smartphone (laughs). Siri is a useless gimmick that no one will bother with after few hours of use. Made out of cheap ass glass that will break into million pieces if you accidently drop it. No external storage - no microSD card slot for adding storage. No file system access - you can't save and retrieve file from wherever you want on the phone, Static icons, No turn-by-turn GPS navigation built in, No flash on websites, No removable batteries, Customization is out of question.

you just got pwned, son. Go back to your basement.

 

[blesio]

It's just to damn expensive for a statistical Polish guy I guess.... The ones that get it will be the ones that extend their contracts.... It's still expensive though the other group are the apple freaks which will cough up the dough for a new apple toy and there are not a lot of them here in Poland.... Those products are just not that popular here because of the price

 

[JorickF]

1. Unlocked is very expensive.
2. Subsidized is available, but the plans that go along with it suck (e.g. $99 iPhone with 2 years of a €45 plan that gives you only 100 texts and 30 minutes/month).
3. iPhone 4 is still available and cheaper, and Siri doesn't work here anyway.

iPhones would be flying off the shelves if they were €100 cheaper.

 

[zreoxx]

Wow

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.

Living in northen europe. You should now what we think about the US telecom network.
We do know technology but failed to develop a good user interface.
It stills scares me that all smartphones are delveloped in US (apple, google, microsoft)..still... The telecom industry is 3 steps ahead in japan and parts of europe compared to USA.

 

[macbook pro i5]

Does iphone for ass have 4g network? Nope. Better screen? Nope. Bigger screen? Nope. It's outdated in specs compared to Nexus in every possible way. A5? useless unless you are a heavy gamer on a freaking smartphone (laughs). Siri is a useless gimmick that no one will bother with after few hours of use. Made out of cheap ass glass that will break into million pieces if you accidently drop it. No external storage - no microSD card slot for adding storage. No file system access - you can't save and retrieve file from wherever you want on the phone, Static icons, No turn-by-turn GPS navigation built in, No flash on websites, No removable batteries, Customization is out of question.

you just got pwned, son. Go back to your basement.

Image

better screen hell ya the 4 and 4s.bigger screen well i want a 4 inch but i really don't care the A5 is not for gaming it is a cpu so it is the best the bench marks prove iOS is really optimized for the dual core A5.cheap ass glass really? its made out of the same stuff as helicopter windshields admittedly it could break if it falls but that just means your careless and I am not care less i have a nice looking and protective case you must be butter fingers.use ifunbox you can access every thing besides root files u don't need to jailbreak you can even use iexplorer. the only reason you want external storage is because most android phones don't come with 32GB or 64GB models.with turn by turn I don't give a ******* ill buy an app if i need it again use iexplorer it will let you drag apps music or any thing you can even use the iPhone as a usb with that program because thats what I certainly do. maybe you did not know this but mobile flash has died and the version you have is the last one.the reason you need removable is because android is a battery hog any way i don't like it removable the phone breaks easier that way anyways.and customization just jailbreak.son you got owned. anyway I guess everyone has preferences.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-killing-google-android-where-it-counts-2011-11-08

 

[0dev]

Living in northen europe. You should now what we think about the US telecom network.
We do know technology but failed to develop a good user interface.
It stills scares me that all smartphones are delveloped in US (apple, google, microsoft)..still... The telecom industry is 3 steps ahead in japan and parts of europe compared to USA.

The US networks are basically thieves, I feel so sorry for Americans when they talk about their phone plans and how they can only use certain phones on certain networks, even if they're unlocked, because they all use different bands and some use CDMA

 

[divinox]

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..

Ironically, to my knowledge two western countries stand out in the way their credit system is designed: UK and the US. Both of these countries incentives taking out credit; in fact, without taking on debt you're sort of screwed. In other countries, debt (and credit) is frowned upon (to varying degrees). Oversimplified? For sure, but still a relevant observation.

Second, i find it interesting that Apple are seeing massive (relative) drops in France and Germany; Germany is traditionally a strong market for MSFT (WM, WP) and France seems to have taken it to their heart as well. Maybe, just maybe, WP has a chance to take off, after all - it certainly deserves it.

That said, looking at Androids numbers its a tough nut to crack. Wouldn't be shocked to see Android reach 1M activations per day not too far down the road.
Bizarre figure, but at the rate they're going now its certainly within reach.

 

[Datalinks]

Well, until they fix the battery issues or come up with a kick-ass phone that one would come to expect from one of the richest companies in the world, Apple cannot expect these rehashed iPhone 4's to fly off the shelves. iPhone 4S has been a disappointment to me.

 

[divinox]

I wonder what Apple's numbers are for the European countries that use the Euro compared the ones that don't. I would guess that the recent uncertainty with Greece and Italy, that could shake up the rest of Europe.

England and Switzerland don't use the Euro. France, Italy, Germany and Spain (the ones mentioned in the article) all use the Euro.

I'm sure there are others that don't ... but I can't name them off the top of my head.

Sweden, Denmark, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and a few others...
As for Switzerland, they're not part even of the EU.

Dont have any numbers for Sweden (where i live), but as stated earlier on these boards i have made two observations as of late: a) non-iphones are becoming more attractive b) 4S haven't seemed to get much attention. Don't get me wrong. Im sure Sweden is one of Apples strongest markets, but still. Things have definitely changed since the release of iPhone 4.

If anyones interested in anecdotes, i must've known +10 people close to me who went for the iphone4 (many of which had a 3GS to begin with). As for 4S, i really don't know anyone - and know only of one.

 

[manu chao]

Galaxy Nexus has:

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

iPhone has none of that.

* If the iPhone 4s had a HD screen, few people would notice (I would guess that doubling the dpi again to about 600 dpi should be noticeable).
* And the iPhone 4s has Bluetooth 4 (whose key new feature is a very low power mode), we'll see which is going to prove more useful, NFC or Bluetooth 4.
* Well, the iPhone 4s also got a new OS (iOS5).
* The obvious answer here is that Apple should offer two models: an LTE-less model for the majority without LTE access or happy with 3G speeds (the latter of which likely excludes Verizon customers) and one with LTE for those living on the cutting edge.

But I give you this, the more incremental increases in screen resolution on Android devices and the limited roll-out of OS updates to older models certainly create a larger motivation for upgrading to a new device annually than with iPhones.

 

[divinox]

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

An ignorant american, shocker. Germanys economy is far more healthy than that of the US.

----------

Thats because iPhone4S did not bring much compared to iPhone4 for non English speakers.

SIRI supports both french and german as far as i know. Maybe it sucks, but to my knowledge its there. So, no banana for you.

 

[kaizenmx]

An ignorant american, shocker. Germanys economy is far more healthy than that of the US.

It's funny, because right now America and UK are a broke ass country. America owes trillions of dollars to China. Basically, america owes money to a country that used to be one of the poorest country in the world 10 years ago.

Thereby, it's much more logical to say iphones are selling like hot cakes in broke ass countries and Android is selling well in rich countries like Germany.

Karma's a bitch.

 

[rovex]

Second, i find it interesting that Apple are seeing massive (relative) drops in France and Germany; Germany is traditionally a strong market for MSFT (WM, WP) and France seems to have taken it to their heart as well. Maybe, just maybe, WP has a chance to take off, after all - it certainly deserves it.

By and large, the french have no money to spend on such luxeries and neither do I feel they're interested. It's always struck how many have perceived the French as being capable of spending money on apple products and such but in truth it's far different.

 

[divinox]

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.

Way to go, generalizing over a continent with vastly different maturity in just about everything. Im fairly confident that Sweden, for example, has far better deals on both voice and data than most, including US.

 

[Exhale]

Services are not nearly as reliable, and many components are simply missing.
Features as such end up not working at all, or poorly. (Not unique to iOS/Apple mind you)
When you're trying to sell a unified ecosystem, its harder when said ecosystem is partially broken.

Theres no real presence of 'Apple Stores' like in the US, service requests end up taking up longer than market average.
Competition is simply more aggressive. Keep in mind that Nokia and SE are far strong here (and Motorola basically doesn't exist).
Pricing is higher than in the US.

End result, you pay more for a lot less when it come to most Apple stuff in the US. Not just the iPhone either - the Cinema/Thunderbolt displays (17th rank) for example cost upwards 50% more than the U2711 (5th rank), and you get a paltry one year of Warranty with it compared to three, and its not even pre-calibrated.

The support here simply falls apart, resulting in a much grip on the market. Of course, this also serves as a decent indicator in the event that Apple would be up against hard times. The EU will show signs far earlier than the US.

Way to go, generalizing over a continent with vastly different maturity in just about everything. Im fairly confident that Sweden, for example, has far better deals on both voice and data than most, including US.

Current plan is 5 dollars for 3000 texts, 1gb of data (with no overage fees, just choking), no tethering restrictions, and free inter-carrier calls. And its 4g supported (though I own no such device). The bulk of the cost on top of that is international calls, which is a personal exception. Most will have no international calls at all.

 

[divinox]

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.

Common misconception, imo. Subsidies are generally nothing but price structuring; if carrier A takes a 400 hit on the phone, he'll make it up on use (in average, all things equal). Whats relevant is total cost of ownership, not what you pay up front in the store.

 

[divinox]

It's funny, because right now America and UK are a broke ass country. America owes trillions of dollars to China. Basically, america owes money to a country that used to be one of the poorest country in the world 10 years ago.

Thereby, it's much more logical to say iphones are selling like hot cakes in broke ass countries and Android is selling well in rich countries like Germany.

Karma's a bitch.

Indeed. Its also funny that plenty of Americans think the European situation is extremely bad, not realizing that even a country like Greece have a smaller (relative) debt than (U.S. of) America.

----------

Services are not nearly as reliable, and many components are simply missing.
Features as such end up not working at all, or poorly. (Not unique to iOS/Apple mind you)
When you're trying to sell a unified ecosystem, its harder when said ecosystem is partially broken.

Theres no real presence of 'Apple Stores' like in the US, service requests end up taking up longer than market average.
Competition is simply more aggressive. Keep in mind that Nokia and SE are far strong here (and Motorola basically doesn't exist).
Pricing is higher than in the US.

End result, you pay more for a lot less when it come to most Apple stuff in the US. Not just the iPhone either - the Cinema/Thunderbolt displays (17th rank) for example cost upwards 50% more than the U2711 (5th rank), and you get a paltry one year of Warranty with it compared to three, and its not even pre-calibrated.

The support here simply falls apart, resulting in a much grip on the market. Of course, this also serves as a decent indicator in the event that Apple would be up against hard times. The EU will show signs far earlier than the US.

Current plan is 5 dollars for 3000 texts, 1gb of data (with no overage fees, just choking), no tethering restrictions, and free inter-carrier calls. And its 4g supported (though I own no such device). The bulk of the cost on top of that is international calls, which is a personal exception. Most will have no international calls at all.

Speaking of monitors, Samsung seems to be breaking in on that scene now too with their PLS alternatives. Think they're priced at 90% of the u2711 or so. Got no real first hand experience though - yet. From the looks of it, however, they're quite nice -- assuming you get a good example (same as with DELL in other words).

As for the latter, current plan for what and where?

* ps, that inter- is probably supposed to be an intra-. Also, if my hunch is correct, you're ignoring the (per call) connection fee.