First month French iPhone sales fall shy of target
Orange, the mobile arm of France Telecom, said it sold over 70,000 Apple iPhones since the touch-screen handset made its debut in France during the final week of November.
The 4-week sales total is approximately 30,000 units short of the "little under 100,000" unit target publicized by Orange chief executive Didier Lombard during a November 27th interview with Europe 1 radio.
However, in announcing the sales figures this week, a spokesperson for the French mobile operator instead told the Agence France-Presse that the 70,000 unit total was 'right in line' with its target 'of 50-100,000 units.'
Orange had previously said that it sold 30,000 iPhones during the handset's first week on the market, meaning that the weekly sales rate fell to an average 13,000 units during the three weeks thereafter.
Of the 70,000 units, 48 percent were sold to new Orange subscribers and less than 3,500 were formally purchased unlocked, the mobile operator added.
Meanwhile, separate reports on Friday suggested that iPhone sales in UK gained momentum in the region during the holiday rush.
A piece published by the TimesOnline comments on rumors that Carphone Warehouse, the iPhone distribution partner of exclusive UK carrier O2, could soon see a buyout bid.
According to the report, day traders have been talking up "soar away Christmas sales particularly of iPhones." It adds that British retailer DSG International recently issues a warning over slower than expected notebook sales. The reason DSG?s notebook sales have suffered may be that people "have been buying iPhone instead," the report said.
The 4-week sales total is approximately 30,000 units short of the "little under 100,000" unit target publicized by Orange chief executive Didier Lombard during a November 27th interview with Europe 1 radio.
However, in announcing the sales figures this week, a spokesperson for the French mobile operator instead told the Agence France-Presse that the 70,000 unit total was 'right in line' with its target 'of 50-100,000 units.'
Orange had previously said that it sold 30,000 iPhones during the handset's first week on the market, meaning that the weekly sales rate fell to an average 13,000 units during the three weeks thereafter.
Of the 70,000 units, 48 percent were sold to new Orange subscribers and less than 3,500 were formally purchased unlocked, the mobile operator added.
Meanwhile, separate reports on Friday suggested that iPhone sales in UK gained momentum in the region during the holiday rush.
A piece published by the TimesOnline comments on rumors that Carphone Warehouse, the iPhone distribution partner of exclusive UK carrier O2, could soon see a buyout bid.
According to the report, day traders have been talking up "soar away Christmas sales particularly of iPhones." It adds that British retailer DSG International recently issues a warning over slower than expected notebook sales. The reason DSG?s notebook sales have suffered may be that people "have been buying iPhone instead," the report said.
Comments
Of the 70,000 units, 48 percent were sold to new Orange subscribers and less than 3,5000 were formally purchased unlocked, the mobile operator added.
Is that supposed to be 3500 or 35,000?
iPhone not meeting expectations is not helpful for the situation.
Ok Teno, where are you?
or so many will say
The..Sky...is...Falling...
or so many will say
Not falling, just sagging a bit.
Things do not bode well for Apple, and it's very likely that AAPL will take significant hits in the upcoming recession. Disposable income coupled with decreased job security and inflation will be a disaster for sales of Apple devices.
iPhone not meeting expectations is not helpful for the situation.
If Apple announces it sold 5M iPhones at Macworld, that bodes very well for Apple. Besides, Apple's real growth going into 2008 will come from Macs as much as, if not more than, from the iPhone.
The stock drop is the result of profit taking from scared investors. Short term pain is inevitable, but Apple's long term success is not dependent on the US economy alone.
Don't forget that 44% of Apple's revenue comes from Europe. Now, the weakness of the dollar is more likely to hurt Apple's revenues abroad than the US economy, honestly.
The key to Apple's future growth will be in emerging markets like Asia, I believe.
Things do not bode well for Apple, and it's very likely that AAPL will take significant hits in the upcoming recession. Disposable income coupled with decreased job security and inflation will be a disaster for sales of Apple devices.
iPhone not meeting expectations is not helpful for the situation.
Huh? How is 70.000, which adjusted for population and time is 70,000*3 months*300 million people in the US/64 million people in France = 984,375
= more than the first full quarter in the US and almost the same as the first 94 days in the US, and with France having
-much less developed Apple distribution channels
-a more competitive advanced cell phone market
-less purchasing power
-lesser marketing budget
and a November iPhone being less impressive than a June iPhone, anything less than excellent?
Huh? How is 70.000, which adjusted for population and time is 70,000*3 months*300 million people in the US/64 million people in France = 984,375
= more than the first full quarter in the US and almost the same as the first 94 days in the US, and with France having
-much less developed Apple distribution channels
-a more competitive advanced cell phone market
-less purchasing power
-lesser marketing budget
and a November iPhone being less impressive than a June iPhone, anything less than excellent?
I don't know that I agree with "less purchasing power". When comparing the average disposable salaries of countries like France, Germany or the U.K. (with the U.S.), you have to remember that in those countries health costs are already covered.
But to add to your list:- in France the iPhone is more expensive to buy and to run.
I don't know that I agree with "less purchasing power". When comparing the average disposable salaries of countries like France, Germany or the U.K. (with the U.S.), you have to remember that in those countries health costs are already covered.
But to add to your list:- in France the iPhone is more expensive to buy and to run.
I don't mean to sidetrack the discussion, but since we're talking markets:
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...%29_per_capita , the US has roughly 40% higher GNI (PPP) per capita, and I would think that includes government expenditure. So unless the french health system is massively more efficient than the US's, it's a very, very significant difference, particularly for high-end products, and even further if one considers that the US has much more rich people proportionally.
I don't mean to sidetrack the discussion, but since we're talking markets:
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...%29_per_capita , the US has roughly 40% higher GNI (PPP) per capita, and I would think that includes government expenditure. So unless the french health system is massively more efficient than the US's, it's a very, very significant difference, particularly for high-end products, and even further if one considers that the US has much more rich people proportionally.
I looked at the list and stand corrected.
In most Euopean countries though, about a third of your salary is taken off at source as health and pension insurance as well as income tax.
What's the proportion in the U.S?
Does everbody have to pay towards a 'state' pension and can you live off it when the time comes?
I looked at the list and stand corrected.
In most Euopean countries though, about a third of your salary is taken off at source as health and pension insurance as well as income tax.
What's the proportion in the U.S?
Does everbody have to pay towards a 'state' pension and can you live off it when the time comes?
If I'm not mistaken, GNI would include all that, as it would account for doctors' wages, drug costs, hospital costs, etc., so the only difference would be if universal health care is more efficient.
I don't know about US taxes, but a third actually sounds pretty good--in Chile the higher earners pay more than 40% income tax, and on top of that get private health insurance, and I bet the state pensions aren't as nice as the European ones.
I see they're putting a bit of a spin on it.
Ok Teno, where are you?
I'm here. The iPhone didn't meet its projections in France. I wanted to see the official numbers.
This still does not mean that sales were poor we still need to see how well did it sell against competing smartphones sold in France. Did those other phones add nearly 35,000 new subscribers? Adding new subscribers is really what it comes down too for Orange. A big number of sales is just bragging rights.
The end it does say that iPhones sales were big at Carphone Warehouse. It'll be interesting to hear the numbers.
the Atlas method would seem more appropriate in trying to establish buying power.
I am living in France and Holland, so I was pleased to hear the french law made it possible for me to unlock the iphone trhu Orange. I asked in the Orange shop if it was posible to buy a iphone with a Orange service and have it unlocked for Holland. No problem they told me. I asked again if it was an official unlocking service from Apple and Orange. Yes it was.
So I bought the Iphone and told the shopkeeper to have it unlocked ( 100 Euro) but she told it has to be registred first thru itunes. So i went home and registered it with Orange. It went oke I love the iphone. I went back to the shop and asked again to have it unlocked. Another shop person told me it should be performed over the phone and no i could not do that over there. So i went again back home and called 700 on my iphone. After a long time listening to bad music a nice girl helped me with the unlocking. She would send my serialnumber to apple and apple would send me the unlocking code. But at the end she told me that it would void my waranty and i would not get any more updates from Apple. I was puzzled. This was a legitimed unlocking service, not something i downloaded from the internet. Why would a official unlocking from ORANGE and APPLE void my warranty?
I have not recieved the code from Apple yet, but i am not shure to use it. Even it cost me 100 euro's to get it. Maybe i should have bought it in the US for 399 dollar ( 220 euro ) and spend 10 euro on a wih kid who would Jailbreak the iphone. It would have saved me a bundle.
Does someone known; if i restore an unlocked iphone in Itunes. the original lock would be in place. So i would have a way of unlocking and still getting the updates?
It still is a wonderful piece of technology, but my happiness is a bit tempered by the whole deal
David Le cayle France and Zoelen Holland.
Surely on the link posted above... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...%29_per_capita
the Atlas method would seem more appropriate in trying to establish buying power.
Hmm, doesn't the Atlas Method actually not account for differences in purchasing power the way PPP does?
Hmm, doesn't the Atlas Method actually not account for differences in purchasing power the way PPP does?
I think you may be correct, on second brief glance it would seem i misread it.
Not falling, just sagging a bit.
Or, as it turns out, it's really only a small dome mistaken for a sky.
The end it does say that iPhones sales were big at Carphone Warehouse. It'll be interesting to hear the numbers.
Other sites have a different spin, Carphone Warehouse iPhone flop
First England then France. Apple should have stayed out of the cellphone business- not good. And the Nokia attack hasn't even started yet. Be prepared for more bad cellphone news in 2008. Verizon has just been rated #1 in comsumer reports- on the Today show this morning. AT&T along with Sprint at the bottom. People will not switch to a crappy cell phone carrier no matter what the phone is/does.
What's the spread? All the major US carriers are pretty dismal. Verizon has a habit of disabling features on their phones and writing their own OS for them.
Last I saw, if the average was 100, all the carriers were within within 2% of that. That's not much for a cheerleaderfest.