Happened to have a meeting near Regent St close to the main UK Apple store and dropped in before and after the appointment. The first visit at about 2 PM showed the store pretty full and it’s a large two level store. The new iPods tables were crowded, especially the Touch with people lining up to play with them. This was hampered as a bunch of them were so low on battery that they would only operate for a few minutes before they had to inserted into the cradle to grab a little juice. I guess that’s what happens if it used consistently throughout the day. I was blown away by the stunning screen that rendered web pages so nicely. Also it was thinner that I was expecting, a totally beautiful device. Sales commence in the UK on Friday when the first shipment arrives and judging by the crowds yesterday sales should be brisk. All the MacBooks were in use with people playing around and checking email. There were also a bunch of people upstairs with their own Macbooks who seemed to have stopped by to use the Wi-Fi network. A training class was in place at the back of the store.
The line at the check out was maybe 15 or 20 or so people plus sundry roaming sales people with handheld scanners. Sales seemed brisk with a constant stream of traffic in and out of the shop.
Distinct lack of iPhone marketing material in the store, I was expecting a large coming soon sign, but nothing.
Second visit later in the afternoon was similar in terms of traffic and may have been a little longer line at the tills and still lines to play with the awesome touch.
The London store is particularly favored by European tourists, who have no expose to Apple stores at home, unless they live in Rome or Paris and they were evident in spades yesterday judging my the different languages spoken.
A study by Perceptive Science, a usability testing firm, reports ease of use results after stacking the iPhone against the Nolia N95 and a Windows based HTC Touch device. Results are displayed on the Apple hom page and have been picked up by a number of sites including Seeking Alpha and CompuerWorld.
A small group of novice users were asked to perform a number of set tasks, some simple like turn it on and some more complex like set to vibrate. Well the IPhone scored 4.6 out of 5 and the feature rich Nokia just 3.2 slightly below the NTC at 3.4. The tests were conducted to show how easy it is to pick up a device and use, rather that a measure of the feature set. Observations include “Tester were typicially about twice as fast doing sepcific tasks on the iPhone”. That’s huge, Twice as Fast.
Apple slects O2 – How big is their market share? A little research shows the big four have the bulk of the market with close to 17 million subs each for O2, Vodafone and T Mobile with Orange close to 14 million. All the others are tiny in comparision.
The new Nano that was announced in San Francisco a few weeks ago has a lower BOM that the outgoing version. According to Reuters the clever folk at iSuppli who open up devices and dissect the circuit boards to determine what’s in side have calculated the component costs as $58.85 for the 4GB version and $82.85 for the 8GB model.
These prices are about 19% less than the replaced versions and the price of flash memory is falling rapidly according to other sources. This should help Apple’s bottom line come earnings time. iSuppli expect 23 million Nanos to be sold this year. So a little maths shows the previous cost was $72.65 and a 19% saving is worth $13.80 per unit. With 23 M units this produces a cost saving of $320 million assuming the unit sales prices stays the same.
Hot on the heals of the UK announcement, Apple today revealed that T-Mobile will be the carrier of choice in Germany and go on sale Nov 9th, the same as the UK date.
Price will be 399 Euros about $555 including 19% sales tax or $466 before sales tax.
The iPhone will require a two year contract with T Mobile and will only be available from the 700 or so retail stores plus website in Germany.
Press feedback. One day after the official launch what do the
UK press have to say? Let’s see.
The Independent:iPhone finally arrives but it’s neither cheap nor 3G.
Mainly comments about the pricing being higher than the US version, no great surprise there.
Times:When it comes to the crunch, that new Apple iPhone will cost £900.
They call it the most hyped gadget of the year. Goes on to mention that O2 has 18 million UK customers. Then labours the point that the phone requires an 18 month contract. Makes a silly comparison with the lower priced US version but conveniently forgets to mention the 2 year contact with AT&T.
Telegraph:iPhone set for British sale on Nov 9.Again compares price with US version and does not include the tax differences. Quotes from a number of talking heads that the iPhone will be the ‘Must-Have’ gadget for X-mass. Finishes by saying that the iPhone is not a phone but a lifestyle product and a fashion statement. Now they are on to something.
Good factual reporting – The best of the bunch. And goes into why the phone uses Edge rather than 3G, mainly for power saving. Also mentions that this is not just a phone but the best iPod and a browser.
Just in from Regent St. iPhone available on Nov 9th from O2. Price £269 (inc VAT) that’s about $535 as compared to US price of $400 + tax.
To be sold via Apple, O2 and Carphone Wharehouse. Claiming 1300 UK distribution points with trained staff in each.
Same as US product with EDGE and Wi-Fi rather that a 3G version. Seems some sort of deal with Cloud to access their 7,000 wi-fi hotspots for free rather than the usual £7 / month.
Unlike in the US where Apple stores are common place here in the UK we have ten Apple stores: From North to South – Glasgow, two in Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, two in London, Kent, Kingston and Southampton. And one in Rome.
Apple with 185 stores worldwide as of June 2007, only 11 are in Europe. Apple needs distribution partners to shift the iPhone in Europe.
