Reports: iPhone share slips as 8GB model discontinued in UK

[AppleInsider]

Apple is among the handset makers who saw their share of the market slip early this year as the company slowed iPhone shipments, and is now reported to have discontinued the 8GB model in the UK ahead of a 3G version.

According to RegHardware, the recent move by UK wireless provider O2 and its retail partner Carephone Warehouse to offer the 8GB iPhone at a 100 pound discount has resulted in a near sellout of the device, with O2 indicating that restocking is unlikely.

Carphone Warehouse's website currently lists the 8GB handset as "out of stock" while O2's own site claims the model is "no longer available." In addition, O2 is said to have issued a memo to its stores and partners stating that it "will not be replenishing stock of this product as it has now gone to end of life."

In its own report issued Friday, research firm Strategy Analytics said that despite Apple having shipped 1.7 million iPhones during the first quarter of the year, tight supply of the touch-screen handsets resulted in the company's global market share falling for the first time, from 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

"Motorola and Sony Ericsson lost marketshare to rivals with stronger handset portfolios, such as LG and Samsung, while Apple has been hit by stock-outs in North America and lackluster demand for its overpriced iPhone in Western Europe," said analyst Neil Mawston.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[amac4me]

The 3G iPhone will be here soon! I expect a release before WWDC in June.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by amac4me

The 3G iPhone will be here soon! I expect a release before WWDC in June.

At this rate it would seem so. It would not be good business for Apple to have 9 weeks without any iPhone sales.

That is 17.3% of the first year of iPhone sales wasted to a lack or inventory. Not exactly what I expect from and successful company, much less Apple. Even waiting until the WWDC would a major blow to unit sales.

[irnchriz]

Originally Posted by solipsism

At this rate it would seem so. It would not be good business for Apple to have 9 weeks without any iPhone sales.

That is 17.3% of the first year of iPhone sales wasted to a lack or inventory. Not exactly what I expect from and successful company, much less Apple. Even waiting until the WWDC would a major blow to unit sales.

The 8Gb is gone, the 16GB remains at £329.

I don't expect to see a 3G phone till after June or even later. If they were trying to clear the decks of non 3G handsets the 16GB would have also dropped in price, which it hasn't.

Think about it, the 16GB unit would be WAY more costly to be left with on shelves once a 3G iPhone hits.

Unless, as indicated in the Apple earnings conference call, the networks will discount the hardware. e.g. £99 16GB iPhone, £200 for a 3G version. Although I can't see this happening unless they start doing contract sign ups in-store. For example, you sign up in store for the £75 deal and you get the phone for free (as long as you stay on that tariff for 6 months minimum before changing it).

Maybe £200 for the 16GB on PAYG (no 3G)

Interesting times..

[ncee]

Originally Posted by solipsism

At this rate it would seem so. It would not be good business for Apple to have 9 weeks without any iPhone sales.

That is 17.3% of the first year of iPhone sales wasted to a lack or inventory. Not exactly what I expect from and successful company, much less Apple. Even waiting until the WWDC would a major blow to unit sales.

I think they are ramping up for sales that will go through the roof, once the 3G model comes out (and yes, sooner the WWDC)

Not having something sooner, will kill Apple, as many folks WILL NOT wait forever for something they know nothing about.

Yes, it will likely bo cool …
Yes, it will likely kick some serious butt on the competition, but they will have already purchased, so it won't matter how cool how good, how neat, how fast, how slick or anything - because the mass market folks, don't have a spare "X" number of dollars to through away, waiting for the latest and greatest Apple product.

Apple didn't get where they are because they are dumb or slow, but …

Skip

[Tailpipe]

Steve Jobs announced that Apple had sold 4 million iPhones by January 2008 and with 1.7 million sold in Q1 2008, Apple is easily on target to hit its January 2009 target of 10 million.

While European iPhones sales have so far been somewhat sluggish, it is fair to say that this has been primarily due to the fact that existing 3G smart phones created a perception that the 2.5G iPhone would be vastly inferior to existing offerings. We now know that the opposite is true. But it is only really since Christmas that Europeans have discovered that the IPhone's functionality more than compensates for slower 2.5G download speeds. A 3G iPhone that also has Wifi is keenly anticipated. I know so many people who are holding off purchase until the 3G model arrives. In the light of this pent-up demand, the question is no longer: will Apple surpass Blackberry, but when?

What will be interesting to see is whether Apple will adopt an unlocked iPhone business model, which it has adopted for the italian launch, elsewhere. A different revenue model may be the key to exponential growth as much as a 3G model.

I can't wait to see how Apple has changed the 3G iPhone. I wonder if it'll have a radically different form factor or just incorporate 3G technology into the existing design. Either way, it will be excellent and either way shall replace my 8Gb iPhone with a 16Gb 3G one.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Tailpipe

Steve Jobs announced that Apple had sold 4 million iPhones by January 2008 and with 1.7 million sold in Q1 2008, Apple is easily on target to hit its January 2009 target of 10 million.

Apple could make this 10M unit goal without even releasing a 3G iPhone. The v2.0 with 3rd-party apps and Exchange support would be enough to stimulate consumers. With v2.0 coming , a 3G model, and more countries coming aboard I still say that around 10M units will be sold in the last 6 months of 2008. That will be about 13.3M units for the calender year, which sold also satisfy those who mention that 1% of all cell phones is no longer 10M.

While European iPhones sales have so far been somewhat sluggish, it is fair to say that this has been primarily due to the fact that existing 3G smart phones created a perception that the 2.5G iPhone would be vastly inferior to existing offerings. We now know that the opposite is true. But it is only really since Christmas that Europeans have discovered that the IPhone's functionality more than compensates for slower 2.5G download speeds. A 3G iPhone that also has Wifi is keenly anticipated.

Things we've learned over the past year:
— A better OS and faster HW helps the iPhone render pages with enough speed to make many a slower phone on a 3G nearly inconsequential
— Europeans seemed to be misled on the "3G" marketing and unknowingly compared EDGE to GPRS speeds
— O2 throttled their 3G to speeds lower than that of the average US EDGE speeds

I can't wait to see how Apple has changed the 3G iPhone. I wonder if it'll have a radically different form factor or just incorporate 3G technology into the existing design. Either way, it will be excellent and either way shall replace my 8Gb iPhone with a 16Gb 3G one.

Is it ready for a change? I wold like a better antenna, but making the back plastic (as stated in one rumour) cheapens the look, may makes it less durable, and is a step back from being 'green'.

[Foo2]

It sounds like Apple is selling just as many iPhones as they had planned, but they could have sold a few more in the U.S.

[echosonic]

Originally Posted by ncee

I think they are ramping up for sales that will go through the roof, once the 3G model comes out (and yes, sooner the WWDC)

Not having something sooner, will kill Apple, as many folks WILL NOT wait forever for something they know nothing about.

Yes, it will likely bo cool …
Yes, it will likely kick some serious butt on the competition, but they will have already purchased, so it won't matter how cool how good, how neat, how fast, how slick or anything - because the mass market folks, don't have a spare "X" number of dollars to through away, waiting for the latest and greatest Apple product.

Apple didn't get where they are because they are dumb or slow, but …

Skip

I wonder how many people are like me in that it really doesn't matter how much the new phone is, I will buy it on day 1? I'm not rich, and I can't piss away money, but money spent on Apple stuff just doesn't seem like money as much as it seems like An investment in sanity and calm, resulting form the tech support calls I will never make and the headaches I will never have.

It won't matter what the cost is. It won't matter that I have to then get rid of an 8GB phone. This goofy thing is seriously the coolest toy I have ever had, and most of it makes my life a little easier.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by echosonic

I wonder how many people are like me in that it really doesn't matter how much the new phone is, I will buy it on day 1?

Count me in. I don't know if the 3G chip in the iPhone will be as fast as my AT&T Sierra Wireless USB Connect 881 but I can say that any speed increase will be welcome. Not that my internet speeds with the EDGE iPhone is by any means poor, but you can't have too much bandwidth.

[gugy]

WWDC is the place. 3G will come.
They will announce new apps and lots of sessions there are devote to the iPhone.

bring it on.

[addabox]

Originally Posted by gugy

WWDC is the place. 3G will come.
They will announce new apps and lots of sessions there are devote to the iPhone.

bring it on.

Apple's current home page is for the WWDC, featuring an iPhone front and center.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by addabox

Apple's current home page is for the WWDC, featuring an iPhone front and center.

Ockham Shavingcream points to a focus on the Mobile OS X SDK, not a 3G iPhone.

[eAi]

I'm in the UK, I guess I'm relatively in their target market - young and fairly well off, but I really can't justify buying the iPhone. The cost is just too high. I could justify the monthly cost, but the upfront cost I can't do.

The same applies to the Apple TV - I really need something _like_ the Apple TV - I'm fed up of connecting my MacBook Pro to my projector to watch things, but it's cost - £199 is too high for me to justify, especially as I'd have to convert everything I watch from AVI. Apple should learn from the iPhone and make an Apple TV SDK - allow any media format and make the Apple TV into a programmable set-top box and I'd say you've got a winner. As it is I think I'm going to have to get a Mac Mini and use XBMC on it...

[Chris_CA]

Originally Posted by irnchriz

The 8Gb is gone, the 16GB remains at £329.

I don't expect to see a 3G phone till after June or even later. If they were trying to clear the decks of non 3G handsets the 16GB would have also dropped in price, which it hasn't.

Since the 8GB phones are gone, leave the 16GB at the same price and see what happens (depending on inventory). If people still want them, they will buy them.
If they don't sell and Apple thinks they will have a bunch left at the 3G launch (based on current rate of sales), they can always drop the price whenever.

Besides, dropping the price on them now would simply send a signal to the public and even more people would possibly wait, thereby furhter dropping sales.

[addabox]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Ockham Shavingcream points to a focus on the Mobile OS X SDK, not a 3G iPhone.

But 3G is the "killer app" that tells devs that the platform is getting ready to explode.

I'm not saying they'll be selling the things in the lobby of the Moscone, just that it seems likely that, given the apparent emphasis on the iPhone at the conference, 3G will be announced, with shipping soon after.

[GregAlexander]

Originally Posted by eAi

The same applies to the Apple TV - I really need something _like_ the Apple TV - I'm fed up of connecting my MacBook Pro to my projector to watch things, but it's cost - £199 is too high for me to justify, especially as I'd have to convert everything I watch from AVI. Apple should learn from the iPhone and make an Apple TV SDK - allow any media format and make the Apple TV into a programmable set-top box and I'd say you've got a winner. As it is I think I'm going to have to get a Mac Mini and use XBMC on it...

For the iPhone, they use Xcode (for mobile OSX) right? How come they made a separate "DashCode" for dashboard apps?

Shouldn't it all be interrelated? Although dashboard doesn't have a multitouch interface, it would seem to me that the bulkier interface is more similar to the iPhone than OSX.

Would bringing Dashcode & Xcode (for mobile OSX) together, and also enabling these smaller apps for AppleTV, make sense?

[federmoose]

Originally Posted by echosonic

I wonder how many people are like me in that it really doesn't matter how much the new phone is, I will buy it on day 1? I'm not rich, and I can't piss away money, but money spent on Apple stuff just doesn't seem like money as much as it seems like An investment in sanity and calm, resulting form the tech support calls I will never make and the headaches I will never have.

It won't matter what the cost is. It won't matter that I have to then get rid of an 8GB phone. This goofy thing is seriously the coolest toy I have ever had, and most of it makes my life a little easier.

I'm just the same. Though I'm holding out for the 3G iPhone. I got myself a first-gen iPod, and I wasn't willing to do that again with the iPhone. But, its probably worth mentioning that the darned first-gen ipod still works like a charm...

[Amorya]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Apple could make this 10M unit goal without even releasing a 3G iPhone. The v2.0 with 3rd-party apps and Exchange support would be enough to stimulate consumers. With v2.0 coming , a 3G model, and more countries coming aboard I still say that around 10M units will be sold in the last 6 months of 2008. That will be about 13.3M units for the calender year, which sold also satisfy those who mention that 1% of all cell phones is no longer 10M.


Things we've learned over the past year:
— A better OS and faster HW helps the iPhone render pages with enough speed to make many a slower phone on a 3G nearly inconsequential
— Europeans seemed to be misled on the "3G" marketing and unknowingly compared EDGE to GPRS speeds
— O2 throttled their 3G to speeds lower than that of the average US EDGE speeds

The problem is simply EDGE coverage. EDGE is 30% of the UK, 3G is 70%.

If I had EDGE coverage everywhere I go, I'd be perfectly happy with the current iPhone. But while I rarely am out of 3G range, it appears that nowhere around Coventry has EDGE.

Amorya

[AdamC]

Without a basis for comparison except to own a 2G iPhone there is no way to tell the 3G is faster. The most valid point is the coverage and maybe the 3G will be backward compatible like wi fi.
And if 2G gives better battery life your guess is as good as mine.

Apple didn't make a mistake with the availability of the iPhones but they underestimated the popularity of them.

[aegisdesign]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Things we've learned over the past year:
— A better OS and faster HW helps the iPhone render pages with enough speed to make many a slower phone on a 3G nearly inconsequential

That's certainly true although the only speed comparison I've seen is the E61i v iPhone and here the E61i (same hardware as the E61) is a lot slower hardware - 200Mhz with no GPU and a previous gen ARM to the iPhone - and it's 3G is only the 384kbps kind whereas 3G here ranges from that up to 7.2mbps today.

It doesn't negate the fact a modern phone should have decent 3G here, especially one with a rich internert browser built in, which was why most of us Europeans that cared were going "huh?".

Originally Posted by solipsism

— Europeans seemed to be misled on the "3G" marketing and unknowingly compared EDGE to GPRS speeds

No, I don't think so. We skipped EDGE mostly which truly left us with GPRS speeds when there is no 3G. If you remember back to the iPhone launch in the UK, people were reporting EDGE appearing around London a few weeks beforehand on O2 - a network that didn't have EDGE at all. At launch O2 even admitted they didn't even have the whole of London covered. O2 still really haven't rolled EDGE out much past London and big cities whereas 3G is pretty much total coverage except in rural areas where hills get in the way.

I don't think we've been misled on 3G marketing either. We've had 3G marketing for a number of years now and we're just not buying football video clips and videoconferencing with our kids as they wanted us to do. We have however been buying USB 3G modems in droves, often replacing land based ADSL. You can get deals for a free 3G USB modem and an 18 month contract for as little as £5 a month now - that's cheaper than most ADSL lines even if they generally have a very low usage cap.

Originally Posted by solipsism

— O2 throttled their 3G to speeds lower than that of the average US EDGE speeds

That certainly didn't help. I was somewhat confused by the choice of O2 by Apple back then and my opinion of O2's service hasn't changed.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by aegisdesign

That certainly didn't help. I was somewhat confused by the choice of O2 by Apple back then and my opinion of O2's service hasn't changed.

I believe I read that the average 3G speed on O2 was 128Kb/s. I just did the speed test 3x on AT&T's network using my iPhone. and got anywhere from 180kb/s to 260kb/s, with a mean average around 215kb/s. For comparison, I average a little over 1.5Mbps with my AT&T 3G Sierra Wireless USB Connect 881.

I'm curious to know what others are getting and what country they are located in:

• i.dslr.net/tinyspeedtest.html
• www.iphonenetworktest.com
• www.iphonespeedtest.com

edit: I found the article. Apparently you can call and get O2's highest tier turned on; which is a whopping 384kb/s. Even at the maximum it's still shtitty shitty bang bang. Even EDGE can get nearly 1Mb/s. How many other carriers throttle back the service to such low speeds?

• http://www.electronista.com/articles...128kbps.3g.cap

[aegisdesign]

O2 were limiting, by default it seems, some customers to 128kbps due to a 'provisioning error'. They've now 'fixed' that and you should get 1.3mbps on HSDPA 3G equipment or 7.2mpbs some time this year.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile...ed-Problems/p1

They'd be nuts not to fix it bearing in mind Vodafone, Orange, Three, t-mobile all do higher speeds already. See what I mean about my opinion of O2 though?

edit: I bet they limit EDGE speeds too.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by aegisdesign

O2 were limiting, by default it seems, some customers to 128kbps due to a 'provisioning error'. They've now 'fixed' that and you should get 1.3mbps on HSDPA 3G equipment or 7.2mpbs some time this year.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile...ed-Problems/p1

They'd be nuts not to fix it bearing in mind Vodafone, Orange, Three, t-mobile all do higher speeds already. See what I mean about my opinion of O2 though?

edit: I bet they limit EDGE speeds too.

Stick me in that cynic category. That site needs to learn the difference between 'b' and 'B'.

What kind of speeds are you getting?

[aegisdesign]

Originally Posted by solipsism

www.iphonespeedtest.com

Spot the N95 owner in the comments - http://iphonespeedtest.com/?page_id=9

[aegisdesign]

Originally Posted by solipsism

What kind of speeds are you getting?

Where I am there's no 3G and no EDGE anyway as I live in a hilly region. I'm more likely to buy an iPhone for a decent VoIP client than 3G. I bought one of these last week - http://www.sipgate.co.uk/voipshop/pi...alphone_dp-l10 which I'm waiting on arriving. We'll see if that works or gets eBayed inside a month.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by aegisdesign

Spot the N95 owner in the comments - http://iphonespeedtest.com/?page_id=9

That is nice, but my AT&T 3G card has set the bar higher than that. 50% higher to be exact. I wish that post stated which UK carrier was used.


PS: I started a new thread so Click Here to post your speed test results, instead of highjacking this thread any more than I already have.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by aegisdesign

Where I am there's no 3G and no EDGE anyway as I live in a hilly region. I'm more likely to buy an iPhone for a decent VoIP client than 3G. I bought one of these last week - http://www.sipgate.co.uk/voipshop/pi...alphone_dp-l10 which I'm waiting on arriving. We'll see if that works or gets eBayed inside a month.

I'm glad to see more WiFI phones arriving. I didn't know Pirelli made anything besides tires.

[mrochester]

I took the 'High speed' speed test on my N95-8GB and got 389kbps. That's still 3 times faster than the average iPhone speed, so pretty good overall.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by mrochester

I took the 'High speed' speed test on my N95-8GB and got 389kbps. That's still 3 times faster than the average iPhone speed, so pretty good overall.

And you live where and have what carrier?

That speed seems pretty low for 3G.

[mrochester]

Originally Posted by solipsism

And you live where and have what carrier?

That speed seems pretty low for 3G.

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Three network. I live right on the fringe of the city, so my 3G coverage isn't very good. Frankly, I was expecting lower than I did because in my house I quite often switch between 3G and 2G. I work in the city centre and speed tests there indicate 1mbps or so.

[aegisdesign]

Originally Posted by solipsism

I'm glad to see more WiFI phones arriving. I didn't know Pirelli made anything besides tires.

And Calendars.

They also do a newer clamshell - http://www.mobilegazette.com/pirelli...0-07x04x02.htm - but at the price sipgate were doing it I couldn't resist. It'll replace an analogue phone connected to my old Draytek Vigor 2800VG voip router and my business mobile in one handy handset.

There's also a hack for it to allow 5 VoIP profiles so in theory I can run 7 phone lines off one handset. (two GSM, 5 VoIP). Currently I've need for 4 of those lines.

[fpsanders]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

... and lackluster demand for its overpriced iPhone in Western Europe," said analyst Neil Mawston.

I'm getting so tired of this. Especially now, with the weak dollar, the price difference of Apple products sold in the US and in Europe is embarrassing. If you'd fly to Miami, buy a macbook pro and iphone and fly back, you'd still pay less than what Apple is charging in Europe. It's just not right

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by fpsanders

I'm getting so tired of this. Especially now, with the weak dollar, the price difference of Apple products sold in the US and in Europe is embarrassing. If you'd fly to Miami, buy a macbook pro and iphone and fly back, you'd still pay less than what Apple is charging in Europe. It's just not right

Did you take into consideration the variances in VAT and US sales tax?

[aegisdesign]

Originally Posted by fpsanders

I'm getting so tired of this. Especially now, with the weak dollar, the price difference of Apple products sold in the US and in Europe is embarrassing. If you'd fly to Miami, buy a macbook pro and iphone and fly back, you'd still pay less than what Apple is charging in Europe. It's just not right

I don't know about Amsterdam but it doesn't stack up well for a UK v US comparison.

US MBP = $1999 + tax.

UK MBP = £1105.53 + tax ($2193.42)

US iPhone = $399 + tax or $499 + tax

UK iPhone = £143.83 + tax (at O2/CW if you could get one) or £280 +tax for the 16GB model. (ie. $285 or $555)

So, the cheapest iPhone and MBP costs $2478 in the UK and in the US it costs $2398 or with the most expensive iPhone, $2748 here and $2498 there.

Surely flying to Miami costs more than the $80 to $250 difference? Airport tax alone would wipe out the $80. Then you've got to buy a UK power adaptor, unlock your iPhone, be ok with a US keyboard, forego warranty.... And last but not least, UK customs might ask you to pay import duty (5% IIRC) and VAT on top of the purchase AND the import duty when you return anyway. It could end up easily costing you more without even the flight price.

The prices are different, and they shouldn't be so different, but they're not wildly different after figuring in tax. Not wildly enough different that I'd want to go to America anyway. Now Amsterdam on the other hand...

It is odd though that Apple's UK prices are always higher than their US prices. Currency fluctuations never bring it lower than the US price.