UK consumers unhappy with the iPhone’s price tag

While Apple’s iconic touch-screen iPhone may be carving a considerable niche of popularity for itself in the United States, the diminutive smartphone handset isn’t quite meeting with the same consumer reception in the United Kingdom since it was released on November 09. Despite great performance numbers in the US, the Apple iPhone isn't doing so well since its release in the UK. Credit: Apple.

Despite great performance numbers in the US, the Apple iPhone isn't doing so well since its release in the UK. Credit: Apple.Specifically, a survey carried out by GfK NOP has revealed that almost 75 percent of respondents said the GBP price tag attached to the iPhone is keeping them from investing in Califonia-based Apple’s highly evolved and highly desirable handheld device. Moreover, only a mere 2 percent said the iPhone would be finding its way onto their Christmas lists this year.While UK mobile phone consumers are accustomed to receiving their handsets for free when signing up to a set usage contract, the iPhone unit alone costs £269 GBP and then comes connected to a basic monthly tariff of £35 GBP through its mandatory 18-month contract with exclusive network provider O2. Therefore, the minimum cost associated with purchasing a UK iPhone is a rather hefty £899 GBP, which is approximately $1,850 USD."Apple’s history proves that it has the magic touch when it comes to product development and marketing," commented GfK NOP analyst Richard Jameson in a Telegraph report. "However the iPhone has yet to capture the imagination of the UK public. iPhone hype is in full-force, but our data shows that it is very much a considered purchase, with its high price turning many consumers off."Jameson went on to say that success in the UK mobile market is generally attributed to subsidised handsets, which has left the iPhone in a spotlight of consumer apathy given that those who do buy their handsets are not used to paying more than £200 GBP. Jameson also added that Apple Inc. needs to provide "more than cutting-edge design" if it wants to penetrate a highly competitive market that already boasts "very strong brand loyalty."According to tech Web site The Register, which quotes reliable sources connected to UK sales of the iPhone, provider O2 has only activated a mere 26,500 handsets since the phone was released to retail. Prior to launch, O2 offered that it would sell 100,000 units during the iPhone’s opening weekend. It is worth noting, however, that such a sharp drop in performance might not be indicative of the actual sales figures connected to the iPhone. Official activation onto O2’s network may be lower than expected, but it remains to be seen how many consumers have purchased the iPhone before implementing a controversial software hack that opens the device to any network and releases it from O2’s exclusivity.When Apple’s iPhone hit US retail on June 29, the smartphone’s blend of telephonic communication, iPod functionality, and wireless Web browsing saw it selling one million units in its first 10 weeks of sale.

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Simon HNov 26th, 2007 - 16:23:23

Add a flippen radio to it , drop the price by 50% and I'll take one on the 18 month £35 pm contract.

Until then nah.

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WildBillNov 26th, 2007 - 16:44:28

What's diminutive about it, has the guy in the ad got tiny hands? What's advanced about it? It's retrograde. Its costume jewellery and will be so much old tat in a month or so. A pretty face on no substance.

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SimonNov 27th, 2007 - 00:30:23

It was not rocket science but think the people who market this should know the UK market. They should be sacked in hind sight. They sold it with O2 and that was biggest prob. People need to pay up their own tarrif and join O2 if they want the phone. Or pay two tarrifs. Plus the cost would amount to on average over 5 to 600 pounds when you can get one similar (but not as nice looking)for no cost. Nice product but Clive Sinclair marketing as normal. Its the mac v pc or vhs v beta all over again. Sack the marketers and unlock it and it will be ok. Learn from history about not being versatile or Nokia like Microsoft, with the pc, will take the crown of this new tecnological niche.

Apple was always more aesthetcally pleasing and more advanced, and it hurts that they lost their market because of being naive. I hated moving from an apple to a pc. This could be the case again. Please Apple, avoid these people who make you mistakes in marketing and listen to what business and the public want. Not some stupid business people who contract with O2. You are supposed to be too big for that.

Some stupid phone like the blackberry, or some eronomically unfriendly device like the Nokia will run the world and you will be in the same position again.

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