iPhone demand in the UK is 'soft', survey finds The UK's largest iPhone survey undertaken by iPhone blog iphonic.tv has found that while interest in Apple's upcoming mobile is very high, even Apple die-hards won't invest in the handset unless it is competitively priced and available on their network. While 72 per cent of the 487 respondents (74 per cent of which already own …
I may be an old fart, but I can't for the life of me see why people are obsessed by Apple this and i<whatever> that.
So an ipod on a phone..... Hmmm Let me see....
I have a smartphone. It plays music, video, goes on the net, does email, word, excel, powerpoint, games, sat nav and makes and receives calls. I paid £35 under contract.
Apple need to realise that the ipod was the next step after walkmans and that was why it was successful. People won't always pay top dollar for the same old thing in a new suit.
Now if they made the iWatch, where all your tunes are on your wrist that connected to your bluetooth headset, thats worth having....lets face it, your pockets are now full of phones and ipods.
that they'd never heard of the Survey.
Most of the people I speak to who've got smart phones are interested in the iphone.
Most of the people that will spend £200+ on an upgrade are interested in the iphone.
Will they switch networks?
Depends.
On what you might ask, well if it's to 02 or T-mobile, and there is a good data tariff included then yes. Lots seem reluctant to move to Orange, and only one said they'd move to 3 (I know I know it's not 3g for the US, however, how difficult would be a) to do and b) to do and one more thing type announcement...)
Plus compare the Treo or the P990 costs in the US to the costs in the UK, and I can see the Iphone being £250 for the 8mb one for the first 3 months and then moving downwards.
I suspect that apple will do some sort of refresh deal to avoid the iphone going the fate of the razr and going from hot $$ phone to every chav's freebie phone.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/index.cfm?newsid=18049
So which knuckle dragging survey Monkey do we believe? My moneys on macworld, which is a little better known than the flash in the pan iphonic site..which lets face it is just a blog...
.... your still only talking about a couple of thousand people that might go out and buy the phone, that figure doubling if the phone is under £200.
I think a lot of people will also realise this phone isn't bringing anything new to the market that's not already available. As a previous comment mentioned "new suit".
Already big mistakes are being made, if T-Mobile take the phone on it's a real shame that Apple didn't implement 3G as thier all-you-can-eat data tariff is perfect for surfing/downloading/wotnot using a 3G phone.
As with all Apple products they always put more emphasis on looks than implementation and functionality, which is a shame cause they could kick arse if they got it all together.
I Told You So will be iMy refrain!
Stevie Jobs' arrogant ego has such an inflated view that his minions of Apple Kool Aid Drinker SHEEPLE will buy any OVER-PRICED as usual Chinese Made product.
The Apple TV is a flop here in the colonies, the newly "updated" MacBook Melt on Thigh (new reports of them burning up or melting from over-heating) is already being panned by the non Apple whore media as under powered and still over-priced compared to PC cpmpetitors. And now the iPhony will prove to be a FLOP, of course the Apple whore media like The Reg will just ignore the news and continue to proclaim that Stevie Gods is still a genius and does nothing wrong.
Listen for a Told You So ....
I .. just .. have .. to .. have .. one. They're so 'cool'; so much better than being a Blackberry slave! Just think how many 'gurlys' will flock around me in the wine bar. Friends at last.
So what if it doesn't work properly, neither do most phones. It's never stopped Sony or Motorola from shipping sub-standard software.
Executive jewellery always sells.
It needs to arrive now! it's already hideously out of date when it comes to bandwidth (I just bought a £40 Lobster from Virgin mobile that is as fast).
It can only win over users if the phone is very easy to use, robust, reliable, has good reception and battery life. Nobody wants a poor phone and a poor ipod in one. The phone and media facilities need to be class leading to make up for the ancient data speeds.
At this stage I'm not a fan despite being a recent Apple convertee. Apple has world leading design in many ways, but also poor design in other ways. I love my Mac Pro and Macbook, but I hate their mice (Mighty mouse wireless is too heavy and cumbersome).
They oversimplify things at times and sometimes looks dictate function which is bad news for ergonomics.
Operating such a slick shiny phone with fingers seems crazy, fingerprints everywhere.
So 7% of those sureveyed will definitely buy one ? Or did I misread that ?
Apple stated that they were going after a 1% market share. If they get anywhere near that 7%, I thin that would qualify as an astonishing success.
I should declare that I'm an Apple fanboy. And no. I (probably) won't be buying one.
The common misconception about Apple's products is that they're form over function. In reality they are usability over feature. Sky+ doesn't offer anything over Sky, a TV guide, a VCR and plenty of shelf space. Hmmmm. Then why do people like it so ? 'Cause it's easier, that's why.
Easier will most likely be true of the iPhone too. It won't have the bloat of other smartphones, but people will like it more. It won't be any good for Excel, but honestly, if you're serious about Excel, and you need to use it on the move, why aren't you using a laptop ? Desktop apps on a mobile device are astonishingly niche. Even on the devices that have the capability, they're more likely used for their mail features than running Office.
Features that would be handy while out and about are a browser, Google maps etc. Having met some mates and had a few jars, use it to find a nearby curry house.
So why won't I be buying one ? Well price and need. Not that I think it'll be too expensive for what it is, just that I'm not a big phone user. I paid £70 for my phone off contract, and I'll keep it until it falls apart or goes missing. It's my third phone in 8 years. I probably get through £30 a year in pay as you go credits. I have no intention of being bound by a contract just to get a fancy phone while kidding myself it was 'free'.
I still can't believe all the hype over the iPhone - from what I see it does little more and alot less in some areas than my M600 on Orange (HTC Prophet) - which has now been superseded by the M700 - touch screen, check - media playback, check - email and office apps, check - open source software develope, won't see that on an iPhone - quad band and 3g, not on an iPhone - integrated GPS, need I go on.
If you need something like an iPhone go out and get one of the many superior handsets that are free with the right contract.
I find it funny that people won't pay £250 or whatever for a phone because they can get X handset for "free" from Y company. Yes you can, but you will be paying far more than £250 for it in reality because of the outrageous fees you'll need to pay with the contract you have to sign up to in order to get that "free" phone.
I'll start bemoaning the price of the iPhone once I know how much it is going to cost to use per month, and how long the contract is going to be, rather than how much it is going to cost upfront.
I think that the iPhone is a very interesting product with a lot of potential but there is one thing about it that will stop me buying it. Are you listening Mr Jobs?
NO REPLACEABLE BATTERY!
How can anyone design a machine like the iPhone which is able to play videos, etc and not make the battery replaceable is beyond me. I will not be buying one until this is rectified! Also what about a camera on the front for video calls (assuming they produce a 3G version)?
Has it occurred to Apple that there would be a very good market for batteries if it was replaceable?
As usual with Apple the iPhone is underspecified compared to the rest of the market's offerings and overpriced. They do the same thing with their computers.
All you stroppy know-all moaners need to wait for the official announcement. You DON'T know what price it will come in at, you DON'T know which carrier(s) will offer it and you DON'T know whether it will be 3G or not.
Whatever you and these random surveys say, Apple has probably conducted more polling and research than you could possibly believe - that's why they've kept rolling out hit after hit in the last few years, they tend to nail the value proposition each time.
So be careful what you say, remember this from Slashdot after the original iPod launch: “No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.” That could be you!
I for one will not buy a sim-locked phone, being one of those who own prepaid cards from different telcos and swap around when necessary. I'm the type who's willing to pay the few extra bucks for a unlocked phone. I really cannot see logic in paying a little less for a phone that offers no flexibility and creates additional difficulty when I want to switch telcos or even sim cards. That, plus you're at the mercy of the telco when they hike up the fees for the package (switch telco? sure, but you need to buy a new phone. And unlocking it will also cost you more money anyway - not to mention that some telcos don't take it too lightly when you unlock their phones).
And oh, right now my phone's a Dopod-branded HTC Hermes (Dopod 838Pro). It's a retail unit and thus not sim-locked. And sad to say, despite it being a wince-based machine, I actually enjoy using it, and it certainly has way more features than the iPhone.
If anyone has been to the US in the last three years, they will know that US mobile most handsets are dated and their operational rates are outrageous. Can you imagine paying to receive domestic calls in Europe? I nearly had a fit when my friend told me what she paid for her contract.
Needless to say, expectations are lower there than they are here. There is no way the current iPhone spec will enable it to break its own bow wave in Europe. HOWEVER, I suspect that the iPhone we are seeing here as a toe-dip in the mobile market, and once the world has reacted (like we are doing here), there will be a 2G iPhone for the international market with all the bespoke issues fixed. Hell, the manufacturing cost will have halved by then anyway.
Dominic Byrnes's comment: 'So be careful what you say, remember this from Slashdot after the original iPod launch: “No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.” That could be you!' may well prove to be true in time.
There's no denying that iPhone isn't quite like other phones. Of course it's not going to be as good an N95 as a real N95. Of course when you frame a survey as though scrapping an exisiting phone is the main thing buyers will be doing, you're going to see softer demand.
Something that nobody talks about is the fact that, like Apple TV, iPhone is actually a Mac, running OS X. What it offers its users can be reshaped by Apple after it ships.
Because it's so different, iPhone may actually take more market share from dumb phones than other smartphones, taking surveys based on an obsolete market model by surprise.
My main interest in the iPhone is in the reliability of synchronising all my data - 1100 contacts, 3000 numbers, email addresses and calendar reliably. I have been using Palm for 8 years and have had continual problems with software and hardware all the way from the Visor phone to my current Treo 650.
We use Mac OSX and have found that Entourage X will not (although it offers the option) and 2004 (no longer an option) will not import the Palm Desktop data, neither will Now Contact/UpToDate (UTD imports the calendar, but badly). PocketMac will theoretically allow complete synchronisation with BlackBerry and many other phones, but untill I see it, I find it hard to believe. When I see what Entourage on the Mac fails to achieve, I wonder what will happen using Outlook via Exchange..
Any ideas for a qwerty smartphone / PDA other than Palm that will synchronise Apple iCal, Address book etc 100% reliably?
I am currently considering moving to a BlackBerry 8800 to avoid Windows mobile.
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