So, some new handset from a little-known company named Apple went on sale at 6.02pm on Friday, here in the UK. Earlier that day, it also hit the shelves in Germany. You might’ve noticed a slight hubbub leading up to the big day.
Anyway, there aren’t any official iPhone sales figures for the UK yet, which has given every journalist and his dog a chance to speculate wildly. The figure that’s being quoted most widely is 70,000 iPhone sales during Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which includes O2, Apple and Carphone Warehouse stores. Apparently this could rise to 400,000 by Christmas though. If you remember the inaccurate sales reports after its first weekend on sale in the US, you’ll probably take these with a pinch of salt.
In Germany, it’s a different story, with T-Mobile claiming it sold 10,000 iPhones on Friday alone. It’s a strong start, although the figures aren’t quite as barnstorming as the hype. Why? I wouldn’t be surprised if early adopters have learned the lesson of the US launch, where people queued around the block for days, only to find iPhones in plentiful supply for weeks afterwards. In other words, us Europeans have realised we can probably saunter into a shop sometime this week and pick up a handset, rather than getting het up for Friday’s launch.
0 Responses to “Rumour: 70,000 UK iPhones sold in opening weekend”