Poll confirms Brits believe Jesus Phone salvation too costly It's official: Brits believe Apple's iPhone is too expensive. Local pollster GfK NOP asked 500 people across the nation and found almost three-quarters of them say the handset's too highly priced to buy. Some 88 per cent of the sample said they had heard of the Jesus Phone. Alas for Apple, a mere two per cent said they would …
So of 500 random people, 78% have heard of it, and about one in three thinks it's affordable? For a £269 phone I wouldn't say that was bad, particularly if the survey's across the whole population rather than just the high-income demographic it's pitched at.
Also, what's the deal with the huge disappointment over sales not being what journalists guessed it would be? Can we find some figures for how well other phones of the same sort of price sold at launch and over the first couple of weeks, so we can see if it's great or a flop.
Not living up to the estimates of journalists could easily mean that journalists aren't very good at estimating in the face of vendor hype, I'd really like to see a comparison of actual figures againt other phones before deciding it's a flop.
Also, if 70% of people have heard of it and don't think it sucks, but nearly two-thirds think it costs too much, then presumably this will mean as and when the iPhone range widens like the iPod range there's likely to a large demand for the smaller/cheaper versions?
As for the 8% that hate it - did the survey mention whether or not they worked for a bird-logo'd IT new-site?
Ah. Coat time?
it kind of highlights how stupid we can be when we think we're getting something for free. If they gave the phone away for 'free' and integrated the cost into the plan, more people would probably buy it. (even at £49.99 a month for 18 months).
Though I suppose this does mean that Apple has it's marketing wrong over here. Jobs should be told that we have free phones, whatever their cost.
There's also a huge difference between 'too expensive for me', and 'too expensive for what it is'. A huge proportion of people who aren't going to buy one simply prefer to have a cheap thickphone that does voice and sms.
Let me just say, I like Apple/Macs, and I think the iPhone is a mega bit of kit, but my contract on my W880 has 9 months left to go, and by that point there will be a better version out, so whats the point?
Also at £269 for a handset which if it was released by any other manufacturer would be free, it's a waste of money. The yanks will pay for it, but then again half their phones still have pull out aerials, how very 2001.
So I just bought a 16GB Ipod Touch, same price but no contract costs and double the storage.
Maybe they'll get it right next year with V2.0, for now I'll just tease myself in my local apple store and pretend to make calls on my Touch.
Does Paris have an iPhone?
Anonymous Coward:
"Also, er, if 78% of people have heard of it then 22% haven't, rather than the 12% in the article."
However if 88% of people have heard of it as reported in the article (reading comprehension 4 teh win) then 12% haven't...
It not journalists who guessed what the sales would be, it was the companies themselves in their marketing and promo BS that set up an expectation.
"Had Apple pitched the iPhone as an iPod that happens to make phone calls rather than the other way round, folk here might be keener to splash out"
Am I the only one who recalls that the *only* adverts on UK TV do pitch the iphone as a device that's "also a phone". May be evidence that TV advertising doesn't work (at least, isn't informative), or that iphone is a bad name in an economy that doesn't stump up for phones.
I have to admit to having one now, and it is actually very very good. I've had Nokia's, Sony Ericsson's and HTC's in the past. It's got great potential too, especially when Apple get their act together and get the SDK out to the developers, and it's the most powerful smartphone around just in pure grunt.
From my personal experience;
1: Not having 3G is no loss to me - my previous two phones were 3G but I ended up disabling the 3G part of the phone because it ended up meaning they were dropping calls left right and centre (I live in Rural Yorkshire), and it murdered battery life. The Wifi setup on the iPhone is great and there's pretty easy to find 'The Cloud' wifi around most places you'd want to sit and surf / use the extended functionality.
2: I agree GPS would be nice, but it's not a leap of faith to use an off-board Bluetooth GPS device using the rather nice Google Maps functionality, so again it doesn't sap battery life. I have a TomTom which works great for in-car Satnav, so it's again no loss to me.
The problem with the iPhone is that we see all these funky stats and think 'It's missing this or that' but a huge percentage of people who have these phones (such as the N95) never use half of the functionality within it.
YMMV of course.
When they showed the UK model, I thought "That's not going to work. Make it £399 and sell it unlocked as an iPod with phone features". If you work out the "subsidy" Apple are getting from the networks, they realise (including taxes and so forth - as in "what the entire chain gets from the buyer" rather than what Apple gets) approximately £360 per unit assuming the 30% of revenue applies to the lowest tariff and isn't worked out after paying The Cloud.
People would be happy to pay that, and networks and resellers would be happy to subsidise the handset as an incentive for customers. I've seen retailers offering Wiis, iPods, PS3s/Xbox 360s as incentives - there's no reason the iPhone wouldn't have been a complete success this way.
And I don't think anyone would complain (well, some would of course) if the iPhone were sold purely unlocked for £359 for example. Jailbroken especially, it's a very good PDA and the first that really works well with a Mac for decades. There aren't many PDA/phones competing in that price bracket, certainly none as easy to use or with that sort of storage capacity.
I'm fairly sure I've figured out why Apple are doing what they are with the networks, but I don't necessarily think that it's the right approach for the UK where our network providers are quite advanced in many ways. In the US, for the model of iTunes content delivery to work, they needed to whip a carrier into shape (and I still think the lack of 3G is as much to do with the Qualcomm injunction as it is battery life) - in the UK you can pretty much guarantee decent web-based access from any carrier. They clamoured for the iPhone exclusive - I dare say they would all have been prepared to up their data packages and support visual voicemail even without the exclusive just to attract the inevitable new users with iPhones.
I do have a jailbroken, activated iPhone. It was bought purely to see what the fuss was about and because it's a shiny new toy and I think, an industry-changing new user interface. However, I would have bought one to use in an instant if I could have simply wandered into an Apple store, bought it, popped my Vodafone or T-Mobile SIM in and used it right away. Whilst on paper it isn't up to the HTC Advantage-based Ameo, in real world use, I would choose the iPhone every time.
But I already have an N95, got it as a 'free' upgrade from vodafone a few months ago and I love it.
The fact that I had to sign up for another 18 months on the new version of my plan (same price as before, more free talktime and some free SMS I didn't have before) didn't bother me in the slightest - I wasn't planning on changing networks anyway. So, it really does feel free to me, even though it's quite obviously not free for vodafone.
I think the only thing I'd prefer an iPhone for is the music player - this one isn't very nice to use although it does sound good and I can use any headphones with it. Saying that, I also think I'd prefer a separate mp3 player just so I don't lose access to communications when I inevitably run my battery flat playing music.
Er, I said:
"Not living up to the estimates of journalists could easily mean that journalists aren't very good at estimating in the face of vendor hype, I'd really like to see a comparison of actual figures againt other phones before deciding it's a flop."
and got back:
"It not journalists who guessed what the sales would be, it was the companies themselves in their marketing and promo BS that set up an expectation."
So the key parts would be "could", "in the face of vendor hype", and "show us the numbers for the competition".
Journalists are for pulling the BS apart and working out what's true, right?
No, stop, I'm just kidding!
The only reason the iphone took off in the US is cause there phones on a whole are not as good as the UK ones. Anyone with any sense would just get a SE K850i for free then get an Ipod toouch if there really in to music or just buy a bigger memory card for the K850i and use that as a mp3 player.... Those 26,000 or so people that have bought one seem to have more money than sense, but who am I tell people how to spend at least £899......
You said: "The article starts by saying that 88% of the sample had not heard of the phone, and then goes on to say that "only 12 per cent of the sample said they had never heard of the iPhone". I spy a tyop."
The article states "Some 88 per cent of the sample said they **had** heard" (my emphasis). So, unless some quick editing has been done, I spy someone else with failing reading skills.
Swiss Army Knives are handy to keep in your pocket when camping and might get you out of a hole but none of the tools in it are any good - including the knife.
Phones are the same. Crappy text entry, lousy cameras, dreadful video, bad MP3 players etc. etc.
The multi tap text entry on most phones is a PITA. I don't use it. If I want to take a photo, I'll use a decent camera - read digital SLR! I have an iPod touch, but I find I don't use it much - why - I hate earphones. It is however great in the car with a FM transmitter into the car's sound system.
I bought my current Nokia phone sim-free for £250. It has all the problems listed above PLUS it is totally unreliable and often won't even boot.
If there was an iPhone that WAS a phone, (with syncable address book) and I could stick my 5 quid a month OneTel sim in it, I would pay £250, no problem.
If it had 3G, it just wouldn't be iPhone as we know it as it would have to be thicker and the battery would last 1/3rd less. New chipsets worthy of the iPhone which fit inside these sleek phones and don't guzzle power aren't available to Apple et al until early 2008. Apple can't make them if the materials don't exist.
I don't miss 3G, I have had it on Nokia Smartphones and found it to have poor coverage and nowhere near the supposed speed.
Wifi is fine, I have it at work and home, and you can get it free on many trains, and McDonalds etc... also many people have it in their homes unsecured.
My Jesus phone is on O2 PAYG, so no free Edge either, but you don't miss what you've never had, and I could never go back to an ordinary mobile phone.
I'm just curious, do any of you actually use the GPS receiver? From what I've seen the reception is so utterly atrocious it may as well not be there.
I'm also curious about 3G, what do people *really* use it for? Again, all I've heard is reports like the guy above who turned it off because it drained his battery and caused calls to cut out, but I'd be happy to stand corrected. Doesn't it just mean you can send an email in 2 seconds rather than 5s?
-Rolf
I've got both, yet I'm using the Iphone..why it's easier.
It's web browsing is much better, the keyboard much better (yes hard phone keys vs soft qwerty soft qwerty wins.)
Shame I can only use the iphone with an o2 payg sim, so for me, it will remain an ipod touch with a camera and text ability :-)
I have an N95 too... and regretted getting it back in the summer.
Unfortunately the problems I had were many: random reboots; terrifying battery life; rocky bluetooth handsfree functionality; rocky wireless modem functionality; insensitive and power hungry GPS; 3rd party headphones noisy if not used with the ugly wired remote; flimsy plastics in the construction; horrid music player; clumsy user interface, mini-USB connector for everything *but* power
Good points: wi-fi worked well; Opera ran like a dream on it; 3G was good *and* fast, just not for long; 3rd party apps (mostly rather crap though)
Let's not start into Windows Mobile, eh? Fingertip one minute, stylus the next, has-it-crashed-or-is-the-redraw-really-that-slow moments, saved only by 3rd party apps and tight exchange integration.
Anyone indulging in a feature-count pissing contest is missing the point though: the revolutionary thing about the iPhone is it's user interface. It's not perfect, but it beats any Finish, Swedish or Washington-state-authored phone UI I've ever clapped eyes on. It never slows down. Redraw never breaks up. If you're dragging a page around, it never breaks contact with your finger until you let go. I hope it inspires other phone UI designers to get of their arses and improve what they do.
@Rolf Howarth
1. The Nokia N95 with the latest firmware has AGPS which means it acqusition time is within 30 seconds and accuracy is fine for my navigation needs
2. I also use a Nokia E90 with 3.5g. I use Push email and I can download large files very quickly and upload quickly. I watched a video on a train after it was downloaded in a few minutes - 40mb! 3.5g also means you don't need to hunt for The Cloud of other wifi, you just surf when you want where you want. I also use my E90 as a broadband modem for may laptop - it is bloody quick! And my data plan is just £7.50 per month from T-mobile (UK)
3. if you don't need to surf, use email attachments or need a model for your laptop then you probably don't need 3.5g
I've used Ameo and iPhone (and loads of others, to be fair, I also regularly use a Nokia N73, HTC Universal and a Motorola International 3300 - the second revision of the first GSM handset, if memory serves, and certainly a very early GSM phone!).
As a direct comparison:
Data services - 3G, use as a modem (backed up by T-Mobile contract) - flexible email client with ability to accept attachments. Advantage (har har) HTC. 1/0.
User interface - stylus and VGA screen vs. touch and odd size. UI is subjective but as a user with experience of everything from BeBox to OS X and Windows - iPhone wins clearly. 1/1
Phone function. As part of this, I feel considering the physical handset size is important. iPhone has a clear advantage here, with one serious flaw. The iPhone, unlike the Ameo, can be used as a handset, fits a pocket, etc. The Ameo needs a headset (I use the LG Style-i), but offers voice control (either via Cyberon Voice Command which requires tags, or the vastly superior MS Voice Command 1.6 which can handle commands like "Dial [number]", or "What missed calls do I have" [says name] "Call back". Point each, IMO. 2/2
PDA fuctions. Clear advantage to the Ameo due to the flexibility of the software and ability of WM to have third party apps without hacking. Mac users will love having the iPhone, but for Windows users... 3/2
GPS. iPhone has none, but you know what? The Ameo takes 10 minutes plus to get a fix. I get so sick of trying to use it, that I just use a TomTom anyway. No score.
Keyboard. Ameo keyboard is hardware, but fiddly. iPhone keyboard is touch screen and excellent for most users, and it does learn. The screen keyboard on the Ameo cannot be used with fingers. 3/3.
Music player. Windows Media is slow, inefficient, speakers are quite good for the handset. Voice command works with it in a fairly decent way. Bluetooth headphones work on the Ameo. However, iTunes and the iPhone work brilliantly, the music player is fast, and iPhone supports all the iPod accessories like direct car connection. If music is important, then advantage iPhone. They both offer 8GB storage, Ameo can be expanded with MiniSD, iPhone Flash is very quick. 3/4
Messaging. iPhone doesn't support MMS. 4/4. iPhone's messaging UI is better, but officially it's sold on contracts which are such poor value, you won't want to use the SMS feature.
Camera - both rubbish. Ameo is unreliable, slow and produces orange results half the time. iPhone is just blurry and lacks flash. Slight advantage to iPhone in that it syncs images with iPhoto.
Value: Ameo costs £600ish off contract, £229 on a contract which costs £42.50 a month to supply unlimited data, with plenty of minutes and SMS. Can be cheaper with more expensive contracts. Hard to call, but I'd say that it certainly provides some balance to the iPhone costs - that the iPhone IS a premium product, but is much better as a phone if actually making calls is important. As a device the Ameo is clearly better value as a geektoy.
Conclusion: Mac users should have the iPhone, as it really does integrate well with the system. But Jailbreak it, or wait until the software SDKthird party app support is official. Geeks should get the Ameo, as it has massive potential. The primary difference being that the iPhone has a lot of undelivered potential - the UI would be fantastic at handling the sort of features devices like the Ameo try to deliver, and end up flawed.
Everyone else should probably get something else. I hear those N95s are quite popular and very cheap (and FWIW, some Nokias are perfectly happy with iSync and work okay with Macs, just not quite as smoothly as the iPhone).
Paris would use the iPhone. The Ameo would probably annoy her too much with the requirement to think.
and Im sure its a joy to use but you want me to pay how much for it ? I have been on various contracts for more years than I care to think and had a slew of (at the time) very desirable phone/pda combos but never paid more than £100 (and that was for one phone only, most were a lot less). I will be out of contract in the next few months and O2 have as good a chance as the others of getting my custom. What they wont get is my name on any contract that involves that much of a premium for the handset alone. Stick it out for a maximum of £100 and I MIGHT consider it.
Swiss army knife or all your eggs in one basket.
I have been down the smartphone route and like most others got pi55ed off with the poor battery life and buggy apps.
What is the point of having a device that claims to do every thing but none of them really well or for long.
I now have my Tom Tom for getting around, Ipod classic (with all my lossless CDs on) for music, a standard phone for calls and a filofax (Judas I know) for telling me when to be somewhere and where they are.
The big difference is they are all ready when I need them, once Apple et al get a battery life that relates to real world usage then I'll dip my toe back in the smartphone arena but not before.
@Richard Kilpatrick, the iPhone does not support over the air sync with M$ Exchange. This is FREE with many Smartphones now (even Symbian ones). The TYTN II is very compact and easy to use but the screen resolution is not that great. But this is addressed by the high res 3G E-Ten Glofish M800
@Chris Braisby, WM6 and Symbian S60 3ed Smartphones are very stable now. Battery life is improving; I can get 1 full business day from a full charge with an 1 hour of ebook reading with most modernSamrtphones
I've got everything on my iPod Touch except for the making calls part. The jailbreak was easy, even installing the TIFF exploit fix before Apple brought out its update to do the same (and so there's no way I'm going to update the internal software until such time as Apple offers more than I can get by keeping the device jailbreaked).
The iPod Touch has more memory - well mine does as I got the 16Gb version - and the Mail, Weather, Notes, Maps and other apps found on the iPhone work perfectly on the iPod Touch. I also have access to a great many games and other third-party applications. There are some great ones available, depending on your needs.
I use a pedometer when I'm out walking to measure the number of steps taken (current NHS advice is to walk at least 4000 steps a day if you don't do any other exercise, so being able to count them easily is really is useful for those of us who enjoy long walks).
I also make use of a timer, Internet streaming radio player, customiser that lets me change wallpapers and icons like desktop themes, installer that downloads details of new applications and updates to the ones already installed, and a wi-fi stumbler.
Jailbreaking was easy and trouble-free. I'm no coder or hacker, so approached the process with some trepidation but determined to get more out of my expensive purchase than Apple wanted me to. I find it annoying that they sell us intentionally crippled hardware to make the iPhone more compelling.
All we iPod Touch owners need now is some third-party to come up with something already available for older iPods, namely the ability to use it to make calls by interfacing it with a mobile phone.
I found the fact that only 26,500 iPhones have been activated on O2 shocking but not surprising. Simply moving a US marketing model to the UK, unchanged - even requiring EDGE which word has got round has less than 30 per cent UK coverage - was a very dumb move on Apple's part.
And if someone wants an iPhone that is unlocked, they don't even need to tinker with a UK model. They just need to hop on a ferry or plane to Europe and buy one in France and, soon, Germany.
In the 1960s it started with the radiogram (remember them?) and I bought a little transistor radio for my girlfriend who popped it in the kitchen.
In the 1980s it was the music centre that was to take over home entertainment, and I fitted a mains adaptor to the wife's little transistor radio (that she uses in the kitchen).
In the 1990s computers were going to do everything audio/video, but you can't put that on a shelf in the kitchen made specially for a little transistor radio.
Now we have laptops, iPods, mp3 players, PDAs, Xboxs, etc. The wife really misses her little transistor radio which finally died, and I am under instructions to find a suitable replacement.
I've got an N95, and I use both the GPS and 3G quite a bit. The GPS gets used when I'm driving to gigs or other things in places where I haven't been before, or if I'm not sure how to get there from where I am. It's not worth me getting a dedicated GPS to sit in the car and not be used that often, but it's well worth me getting a car charger for the N95.
Main use for the 3G is podcasts. I've got a load of feeds set up from the BBC site, download them on the run and listen to them while out shopping or driving.
They're both really things I wouldn't actually have thought I'd have used in that way, but now I have them I'd have trouble thinking about getting a phone without them. Other than that, I tend to use the camera as my day to day point and shoot, and a load of 3rd party Symbian apps. The only real bug bear is the battery life, but I've got a spare in my wallet.
Personally, I hope the iPhone helps drive the mobile industry towards better UI, but I'm not about to start spending £300 up front on a contract phone on an iffy contract.
The pricing of the 2.5g iPhone is really for two reasons. One, Apple wants to occupy the premium space and two they will need charge to £260 for 3.5g iPhone . We are being conditioned for the future - and O2 and CPW will not achieve the sales they want because they don't really understand Apple's strategy. The iPhone can never be a mass market product - Apple never really wanted that. Their projection of 10m units to be sold by end of 2008 demonstrates that.
Yes I have an N95 and use the 3G and GPS.
With regards the GPS, out of the box it was poor, 2 firmware upgrades later and the addition of Assisted-GPS, it now works indoors and locks on outside within a few seconds. In a car cradle it works fine as a fully functional satnav without any battery issues as it's on charge.
3G. The main use for this other than quick web-browsing (much faster than GPRS although the Iphone screen is better suited size wise) would be fast upload of photos to flickr from the camera or indeed emailing large pictures. The camera is pretty decent and gets plenty of work use snapping whiteboards and forwarding them via email. As a leisure device having every photo you take automatically upload via 3G to Flickr is a nice feature and wouldn't be great over anything slower than 3G or indeed 3.5G.
Podcast download also takes considerable bandwidth, so unless you happen to be in a Wifi hotspot, 3G is essential.
I have had a quick play on a Iphone, the build and construction seemed great ,the touch screen and user interface were in a league of their own.
From my perspective, I do use 3G, the proper camera and GPS. The Iphone needs to up add comparable features in those areas before I'd become a buyer.
That said, It is a great looking gadget!
I had the dubious pleasure of playing with an iPhone just after the US launch, when someone turned up at work with a couple of them. They were just sitting there, awaiting activation until I took pity on them, took them home and unlocked them. As such, I got to try out all the features and it didn't take long to decide that my K800i was a far better choice. I wasn't the only one who didn't like them - lots of colleagues had a play with them once I'd taken them back to work. So, expensive tat.
I have to be honest here, I do have an iPhone and I love it.
Having used various phones over the years from elderly Nokias, Windows based SPVs and my just replaced Sony Ericsson W800i, I can honestly say that I find that the iPhone is a much nicer phone to use. It works, it works incredibly well - the UI is intuitive and does what I expect. If anything it is probably the best phone that I have ever used. It is also about the only phone that I have ever used that does sync the address book and calendar without butchering the bloody things. Getting the data to sync between my Palm and W800i and Outlook or Apple's tools has been a nightmare if I wanted the data consistently correct and not corrupted and/or duplicated.
It is not perfect - it does not have 3G - I don't need it, GPS built in would be nice - but it is a phone. The camera is not great but it is a phone. I would like it to have more space for music - oh hang on its a phone.
Other smartphones that do everything are all well and good, they may do everything but be honest how well do they do everything? The GPS on the N95 is a joke, a friend half way up a mountain in Canada was most impressed that it took 15 minutes to get a lock. Storage is limited to memory card size so thats umm oh 8GB. They may have better cameras but lets be honest if you want a good camera you buy a camera not a phone.
What the iPhone does do it does incredibly well, when the SDK is released I would not be at all suprised if at the same time Apple releases a software update for the phone with extra features that probably should be there (bluetooth to GPS unit for Google maps would be good, IM (via iChat but that covers google talk as well) would be good) now but are not - and yes that is a fault.
The iPhone is not a perfect smartphone, but then I have yet to come across a smartphone that is a perfect phone.
Rant over.
Paul
Husband (gadget freak and apple fan) bought me one - I was perfectly happy with the phone I had (mainly use it for calls, SMS, MMS and camera) as core functionality and batterylife were great. I was very sceptical but have to admit that (bar one major failing) the iphone is fab. It's so intuitive that my grandparents (if I had any) could use it, and everything on it works beautifully. Batterylife is excellent - even after a day spent at footie taking pics, flipping between Edge and wifi to find out scores of other matches managed to get home with 95%+ left.
My problem is that with the iphone the UK is an afterthought. Not only does every big manufacturer rip us off by just sticking a £ sign in to replace the $ sign (at a current exchange rate of roughly $2 to £1), but Apple either didn't bother to research the UK market or just decided not to care. The US may not bother with messaging (it amazes me how behind the UK they are on mobiles in general) but in the UK it's a fundamental function of a mobile phone. I can live with the qwerty keyboard (my nails were too long anyway and as someone else mentioned the iphones learns very quickly) but 1) can't send SMS to multiple recipients 2) can't forward SMS 3) can't cut and paste (OK, I don't think I've ever had a phone that could do this, but then all my previous phones allowed me to multisend/forward so I didn't need to) 4) can't delete a single SMS - quite cool the way the iphone displays and stores texts between two phones as a single 'conversation', but I'd still like the option of deleting one message rather than an entire 'conversation' and 5) can't send/receive MMS (hoping this will be a firmware upgrade rather than hardware when they get round to it).
This is all inconvenient-but-I'll-get-used-to-it stuff, but it just winds me up that Apple go to the trouble of designing an amazing UI and then add only the functions required by the most backward mobile market in the developed world. Oh, and then just change the currency sign so that, yet again, we're funding everyone else.
Rant over. :-)
"Alas for Apple, a mere two per cent said they would be asking Santa for one this Chrimbo".
Assuming the surveyed group of 500 was representative of the UK as a whole (population approximately 60 million), roughly 1.2 million people are hoping Santa will bring them an iPhone - I suspect Apple would be more than happy with this number.
Obviously a fair proportion of the 1.2 million will be hoping that the Easter Bunny is going to take care of the £35 per month tariff for the next year and a half but hey, we have to believe in something right?
Chrimbo? What perverted, depraved refugee from a linguistic cesspit dreamed up this foul abuse of the English language? Can we please form a lynch mob and beat this degenerate (that's a degembo to you, sonny) to death with dictionaries?
Oh, and Fiona (see above), with reference to your comment '... my grandparents (if I had any) ...', I can assure you that you did.
I think I need more coffee.
. . . but Apple mania is alive and well in Exeter. Check out the video & blog of the Exeter Apple store opening yesterday where around 400 were queueing at opening time:
http://www.m-i-x.com/?p=29
In fact, around 1% of the population of Exeter visited the shop in the first hour or so!
Argos is one of the biggest sellers of mobile phones in the UK. Of the 16 O2 phones they're selling the average price is £80.99. Given that PAYG makes up around half of all mobile phones the iPhone is about £200 too expensive for that market. People change their phones too quickly to be left with a £300 Apple brick-phone on an 18 month contract. The way phones depreciate and the rate at which they are replaced and become obselete means no one is going to spend £300 on a phone - quite apart from the fact the PAYG customers are completely screwed over for mobile data costs means about 50% of the market will never buy an iPhone. Apple will have to content itself with posers and yuppies.
I suggest Mr Thomas complains to the Australian authorities over missuse of language.
The iPhone simply won't take off in Europe until the hardware spec is brought up to the level of the best on offer from Nokia, SE and Samsung. Euro phone users seem far more savvy where mobiles are concerned and constantly demand the latest wizz bangs. These days its 3/3.5G, GPS, 5mp cameras, Stereo BT,
If iPhone 2 just matches what others are offering now it will mass sell in Europe.
Not only is your (ab)use of English going to come under scrutiny...
"My problem is that with the iphone the UK is an afterthought. Not only does every big manufacturer rip us off by just sticking a £ sign in to replace the $ sign (at a current exchange rate of roughly $2 to £1), but Apple either didn't bother to research the UK market or just decided not to care."
Um.
The iPhone in the US costs $399. It costs £269 here. Now, some quick calculations indicate that the iPhone should be £200 + tax. So £235. Excluding any additional costs of shipping, UK operating costs... it's hardly a striking markup.
Also, much as I hate to admit it, O2's contracts are not the worst value out of the iPhone contracts. We're only tied into 18 month, instead of 2 year deals, and Germans pay more for less.
This isn't to say the contracts are great value. They aren't in comparison to other deals. But the UK market has been researched and handled surprisingly well IMO - I personally feel it could have been handled better if Apple just wanted to shift iPhones, but they don't. iPhone is a gateway into Apple's media distribution system. This is a long-term GAME (you just lost it, btw) and it has to be said that they show every sign of pulling it off.
Also: MS Exchange sync? On a consumer market phone? I have no need for such novelties. Even so, it can be faked using iMapIdle, and from experience it is buggy as hell on most devices even when they do support it. Part of the wonder of working out of the office is NOT having to deal with an email the instant it arrives ;)
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