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Why does the iPhone sell less in Europe?
- Thread starter Fandroid98
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In the UK, you wont last 5 minutes without seeing an iPhone on any street. Incredibly common here. And I am not sure why people think we don't buy subsidised phones, we do. A lot. Just because we can buy sim free phones off the Apple store doesn't mean that we don't have contracts.
We have much better competition between network providers than the USA does from what I can tell.
We have much better competition between network providers than the USA does from what I can tell.
Price is an issue, but Siri and Maps are truly appalling in my part of Europe (Scotland). Apple is very US-centric even though Apple Ireland has so much cash to invest in Apple's research. 
I pay no less for my iPhone than those in the US, yet the service from core features is relatively limited.
I pay no less for my iPhone than those in the US, yet the service from core features is relatively limited.Disclaimer, I am both European and American, so I am not taking any side, just feel I have a good grip on this
- Mentality: An "average US person" values a good or service based on needs and desires. An "average European person" values a good or service based on what it should cost, based on component costs, etc... It is very hard for a European person to feel good about purchasing an iPhone, when an Android phone with a better spec sheet sells for cheaper. A US person would say "who cares, if it feels better, I am willing to pay a premium", when the Euro person would think "I can have NFC on Android and pay less".
A Euro person would get as much satisfaction (if not more) in the actual deal than they're getting, as in the device they're getting.
Apple makes high profit margin, euro people can't stand that, US people don't care.
- US company: obviously buying American is a plus for US people, and is probably a minus for many Europeans.
- affordability: US people have more buying power
- iPhone is much better in US: Siri actually works and is of value, Maps is decent... Those were some the biggest selling points of the iPhone 4S and 5, and they just don't perform well in EU. Not clear if iTunes Radio is coming outside US or not, but that could be one more to the list.
American's don't get satisfaction in the actual deal they are getting? Of course they do.
I am only responsible for what I write, not for how you interpret it.
My sentence was:
"A Euro person would get as much satisfaction (if not more) in the actual deal than they're getting, as in the device they're getting."
Where in that sentence do you see that I believe that Americans don't get satisfaction in the deal?
Given the whole generalized post where that appears it's a fairly simple connection to make. With some additional clarification provided now the connection might not be as simple, which clarifies it.
One simple reason: iPhones are luxury goods are Europeans are not as rich as Americans. I don't think Europeans have different tastes than Americans on phones. They go for the best too if they can.
I live in Italy, where per capita income is around 60% of the US one and iPhones are not very common. Pricey androids like the S4 or the HTC One are not common either, for the same reason. The market is dominated by cheap android phones, not by top ones.
Of course, there is a also little "herding effect": if everyone has an android, I might just buy one even if I can afford an iPhone because droids are standard, more common in shops and so on, but I think that this effect does not account for much.
I often travel to Switzerland and Luxembourg, where income is comparable with the US or higher (people in Luxembourg are stinking rich) and iPhones are ubiquitous.
The very same goes for mac computers: they are rather uncommon in Italy (and I guess Spain, France or eastern Europe), especially among youngsters who typically are on a budget and much more widespread in rich European countries.
I live in Italy, where per capita income is around 60% of the US one and iPhones are not very common. Pricey androids like the S4 or the HTC One are not common either, for the same reason. The market is dominated by cheap android phones, not by top ones.
Of course, there is a also little "herding effect": if everyone has an android, I might just buy one even if I can afford an iPhone because droids are standard, more common in shops and so on, but I think that this effect does not account for much.
I often travel to Switzerland and Luxembourg, where income is comparable with the US or higher (people in Luxembourg are stinking rich
) and iPhones are ubiquitous.The very same goes for mac computers: they are rather uncommon in Italy (and I guess Spain, France or eastern Europe), especially among youngsters who typically are on a budget and much more widespread in rich European countries.
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Almost everyone around me (Antwerp, Belgium) has an iphone. The only thing is there is no 4G for the iphone 5 yet grrrr
Having lived in EU for a period of time I believe the key factor is the second hand market.
Europeans are not as likely as americans to buy second hand stuff. They rather get a new WP8 phone, than a second hand iPhone 4s. Furthermore Europeans are more likely to use their electronics until they stop functioning instead of selling it a few month after getting it.
For instance, the typical american gets a new iPhone every two years. While the european is more likely to keep it for more than 3 years. Hence selling less devices in the long run than in the US.
Also the economic difficulties in Europe are a factor to consider. You've got crisis in 2 major european markets (Spain and Italy), fears in another 2 (UK and France). Check the market share graphics, aside from Germany that is a major Android playground, the trend mimics the economic dynamic. You have Spain with pretty much no market share for the iPhone.
Europeans are not as likely as americans to buy second hand stuff. They rather get a new WP8 phone, than a second hand iPhone 4s. Furthermore Europeans are more likely to use their electronics until they stop functioning instead of selling it a few month after getting it.
For instance, the typical american gets a new iPhone every two years. While the european is more likely to keep it for more than 3 years. Hence selling less devices in the long run than in the US.
Also the economic difficulties in Europe are a factor to consider. You've got crisis in 2 major european markets (Spain and Italy), fears in another 2 (UK and France). Check the market share graphics, aside from Germany that is a major Android playground, the trend mimics the economic dynamic. You have Spain with pretty much no market share for the iPhone.
I live in Europe and iPhone for people is now been there, done that - for many. People adopt what's best very early and the younger people at my university and work moved on from iPhone over a year ago. I did not understand them then as a true Apple user since 2006 and asked why. They found that the screen was too small, especially the girls (as they carry a purse anyway and use it a lot for social media and looking at pictures). Also, they use Google services anyway and find iPhone boring. It is a fashion statement to choose high end Android phones and very well accepted where I live right now. Their laptop of choice is still MacBooks though.
I think what many of you miss is how US-centric Apple offerings are. Let me give you three examples:
1. Siri
Flagship feature of Iphone 4S - 2 years after its introduction it still does not support most European languages. It is missing both major languages like Portuguese (250m speakers), Polish (40m) and Russian (110m) and smaller (but very important languages due to large Apple market share in these markets) like Dutch (20m), Swedish (10m), Danish (5m).
Support for individual countries is appalling as well. No support for any Nordic countries, Benelux nor any Central European countries. Indeed Apple only supports 6 out of 45+ countries in Europe.
With 7.0 there was expectations that Apple would include support for more languages / countries but what does Apple do? They introduce male voice for Americans!
2. Maps
There are two major problems with maps.
Appalling coverage of European cities - even 1st tier cities like London, Paris and Berlin have sucky coverage, not to mention 2nd tier cities like Stockholm, Amsterdam or even worse coverage of countryside....
Second problem with maps is its american-centric view of perceiving world - no walking directions, no public transport.
3. Mac Pro
Apples is touting how Mac Pro is going to be "Made in US". Well nobody cares here if it is made in US or made in China. Most of us in Europe have moved away from this simplistic & protectionistic view of the economy - why the hell would we pay extra money for lazy americans putting together Mac instead of somebody doing it in Asia. Using nationalistic marketing tactics is not good in globalized world.
Lastly Europe differs a lot. There are countries which have roughly same purchasing power level as US (Nordics, Benelux, DACH, UK) than you have poorer south and even poorer east.
iPhone adaptation in first mentioned countries is rather high - in southern and eastern Europe it is much level due to purchasing power.
1. Siri
Flagship feature of Iphone 4S - 2 years after its introduction it still does not support most European languages. It is missing both major languages like Portuguese (250m speakers), Polish (40m) and Russian (110m) and smaller (but very important languages due to large Apple market share in these markets) like Dutch (20m), Swedish (10m), Danish (5m).
Support for individual countries is appalling as well. No support for any Nordic countries, Benelux nor any Central European countries. Indeed Apple only supports 6 out of 45+ countries in Europe.
With 7.0 there was expectations that Apple would include support for more languages / countries but what does Apple do? They introduce male voice for Americans!
2. Maps
There are two major problems with maps.
Appalling coverage of European cities - even 1st tier cities like London, Paris and Berlin have sucky coverage, not to mention 2nd tier cities like Stockholm, Amsterdam or even worse coverage of countryside....
Second problem with maps is its american-centric view of perceiving world - no walking directions, no public transport.
3. Mac Pro
Apples is touting how Mac Pro is going to be "Made in US". Well nobody cares here if it is made in US or made in China. Most of us in Europe have moved away from this simplistic & protectionistic view of the economy - why the hell would we pay extra money for lazy americans putting together Mac instead of somebody doing it in Asia. Using nationalistic marketing tactics is not good in globalized world.
Lastly Europe differs a lot. There are countries which have roughly same purchasing power level as US (Nordics, Benelux, DACH, UK) than you have poorer south and even poorer east.
iPhone adaptation in first mentioned countries is rather high - in southern and eastern Europe it is much level due to purchasing power.
The UK version of Siri (i.e. British English) isn't all that good either.
Agree 100% with those.
I think this is definitely true. There is no value to us in something being designed or assembled in a particular location, especially if that location is not where we are!
I think everyone who is arguing that the iPhone itself is the reason it sells less than in the US, is looking at it the wrong way. Europe and the US are different, but not that different. A good phone in the US is a good phone in Europe, despite Siri and Maps.
It's pricing.
It's pricing.
It's all part of the same thing.
I also disagree with the statement "A good phone in the US is a good phone in Europe.". The iPhone hardware and iOS software have always been US-centric. This means that for customers outside of the US (or North America more specifically) the experience isn't as good as phones from other manufacturers.
This is funny because protectionism is still very much alive in Europe.
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Of course, it's not exactly the same. But please, don't go into details that much. Things as Siri and Maps are minor details when you look at the big picture. They may seem very relevant to Apple fanatics, to the average user it's just water under the bridge. Overall I'd still say: a good phone in Europe is a good phone in the US. Who cares if some minor little features works a little bit less well than in the US, overall it's the same.
I'm talking about things like poor LTE support and Apple's inability to "get" the EU telecoms market.
Apple has been less popular in Europe well before the LTE era. Second, what do you mean Apple doesn't "get" the EU telecom market? What don't they get?
Extortionate COST per unit + Extortionate sales taxes and import duties make it doubly extortionate.
That and Europeans are less swayed by shiny things than low IQ Americans (ducks)
That and Europeans are less swayed by shiny things than low IQ Americans
(ducks)Things like:
-Poor roaming customizability
-Lack of MMS when the phone launched
-Low Visual Voicemail availability
-No delivery reports
-50MB Download limit on the App Store
These things are all trivial, but there are many more like them - features that were not available or not relevant on AT&T in the US - or things that AT&T wanted, and therefore got left out of iPhone OS 1.0 and have never since been put in.