T-Mobile Germany pushes 70K iPhones since launch
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Jan 27th 2008 2:30AM
posted Jan 27th 2008 2:30AM
Looks like T-Mobile Germany is meeting roughly the same fate as its French brethren in the European iPhone sales race, claiming to have sold around 70,000 of the little buggers since launching on November 9. That would put it in line with Orange's numbers, but still well below O2's projection of 200,000 sold by the end of January. Despite the wealth of high-end 3G devices available to Europeans, T-Mobile Germany's chief has gone on record echoing the sentiment put forth by chiefs of other carriers selling the iPhone, saying that "the iPhone is by far the most sold multimedia device in T-Mobile's portfolio." Then again, given Apple's intense profit-sharing policies, that really doesn't mean a heck of a lot to T-Mobile in terms of euros padding the bottom line.[Via mocoNews]
I have some insight in the business and 70k sold is a spit in the sea, almost laughable low figures. iPhone is a complete fiasco in Europe, despite all the hype it hasn't even made a dent on the big three in Europe (Nokia, Samsung and SonyEricsson).
Let's see what Nokia, SonyEricsson and Samsung will do in Barcelona. I'm quite sure that Steve Jobs will feel the heat.
Orange sold 70K in less than 5 weeks (first month). T-Mobile is saying it sold the same amount in 11 weeks. That's a lot worse than Orange.
Let's not forget that a lot of Europeans did not get their iPhones via T-mobile/O2/Orange. Even before they started selling them there were enough ways to get the iPhone. And btw. why would you buy your iPhone from one of these parties with the current Euro/Dollar exchange rate? Importing them is far more interesting (and since the iPhone is very interesting to gadget enthousiast you also have a group of consumers who are willing to take that effort).
@Rick
OK, let's do a little math.
The iPhone is $399 in US. That corresponds to approx. €270 (as I'm writing this). You cannot import something without paying VAT. VAT in Germany is 19%, so the new total is approx €320. They won't ship it for free; shipping it insured won't cost you less than €30 (the shipping company has to take care of all the paperwork to get it through customs, so it isn't cheap). Your final total is €350. For a device that has no warranty (good luck sending it back to the US, having Apple service it there and ship it back to you in Europe).
The iPhone sold by T-Mobile costs €399, and, like all consumer products sold in EU, enjoys a 24 months warranty.
You have to decide if a 2 yr. warranty is worth €49 to you. To me, it is.
For the rest, they're both equal. Unlocking an iPhone bought from T-Mobile is no more difficult than unlocking a US-imported one.
Actually, there are a couple of flaws in your argument.
To start with, yes, you can import things without paying VAT.
And I'm not just talking about items under a certain value either - it's just not possible for customs and excise officers to check that everything has been properly accounted for, not to mention items that are shipped as gifts.
Your point about the warranty and the point about unlocking the iPhone cancel each other out as unlocking your iPhone should render the warranty as void as if you'd imported it.
Also, while I'm certainly not completely au fait with how one unlocks an iPhone, if the way they are sold in Germany is the same as the way they are sold in the UK, I don't think your comment about them being as easy to unlock as each other is true.
Plus, on top of all that, you've missed half the point of what Rik said (not to mention you spelt his name wrong) - that people in Germany have been able to import iPhones since before they were able to buy them in Germany or even before it was known that they would definitely be sold there.
That factor alone will account for a large number of the imported iPhones.
@John
If "the iPhone is by far the most sold multimedia device in our portfolio"
How can it be a fiasco?
Hater!
because the line about it being the most sold multimedia device is open to huge amounts of interpretation, not least of which how are you defining 'multimedia device'.
That obviously isn't including the LG Viewty which has sold well over 500,000 in the first 5 weeks since it went on sale, so what other phones does it not include?
John's right, the iPhone is a joke over here. No-one in their right mind would buy one.
And telling the truth doesn't make him a hater but you getting angry because the truth isn't what you want to hear makes you a fanboy.
Come on! Nobody over there is paying full price for a LG Viewty,
Stop lying to yourself! You mostly get it for free on a 15 months contract.
Everyone in Europe wants an iPhone and you know it.
It is not selling as well because unlike Americans you're a bunch of broke-azz cats.
I never seen such a cheap ppl in my life!
you're even a bigger hater than John is.
Pathetic.
Of course no-one's paying the full price for their Viewty, being charged the full price of a phone on top of a contract is a complete rip-off.
And I'm not lying to myself, or anyone else for that matter, as I never said that anyone was paying full price for their Viewty. My point was merely that that phone alone has beaten the iPhone in sales, so for the guy from T-Mobile to say that the iPhone is their best-selling multimedia phone ever is clearly more than a little dodgy.
You're half-right about people in Europe wanting the iPhone.
Yes, people want it but the reason they don't buy it isn't that they're cheap or miserly, just that they can see when they're being ripped off.
As for being pathetic, well I'm not the one who's getting angry and making personal attacks about a phone - that's all it is after all, a piece of technology, no-one insulted your mother...
Who is getting angry? where did you get that from?
if anything I'm laughing at your pathetic ass sitting there hating on the TIMES MAGAZINE's invention of the year.
Face it you hate the iphone and want it to fail because it is AMERICAN!
Well, I assumed you were getting angry because the alternative is that you're just an arsehole who routinely insults people just holding a different opinion to your own and I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt.
But if you say you're not angry...
And who the hell cares that it was Time's invention of the year? That means nothing about how good the product is, just how much hype there is about it.
Also, in retrospect, Time's choices aren't always that good - Hitler was person of the year in 1938 and Stalin got it twice in '39 and '42. I'm not saying that the iPhone will cause genocide but using Time as some sort of justification for the iPhone is the most pathetic thing you've said so far.
And, finally, no I don't hate it because it's American. I don't care about the iPhone enough to hate it.
The only person who has commented here who seems to have some sort of xenophobic prejudice would be yourself with your immature views on Europe, which are just funny really, trying to criticise people in Europe for not being prepared to pay good money for things given that we're routinely ripped-off by companies who seem not to realise how exchange rates work, all of which is even worse at the moment due to the incredibly weak dollar.
You're clearly someone who takes all this sort of stuff far too seriously, so here's some good advice, though I'm sure you'll fail to heed it - it's a phone; get over it, get laid and get a life.
Or, if you can't do that, at least crawl back under a rock somewhere and stop wasting the time of the rest of us.
@bustafone
I have seen YouTube comments with better logic.
Theres nothing to hate with iphone exept these over the top fanboys that apple brings with it.
Numbers what iphone has sold in here EU area arent anything big, but actually that is partly because the hype didnt exist in general media so people keep buying Nokia's and SE's with out knowing about it. Saying that Europeans are cheap with their phones is laugh able when 99% of Americans buy their phones locked and countries like Finland(Nokia), Sweden(SE) phones sold unlocked is over 80%.
Iphone is superb because of its screen imo not to say that the TS would be bad (best there is right now)thought i would still like it to be tactile. Maybe when they unite tactile and TS i'm more in it. And because the hype was missing people could see the price...it dosent make sense. You can get classic N95 for free.
Agen i just want to say that Iphone is amazing and brings something new to this nokia controlled market. While the amount it have sold isnt amazing i hope it makes the big guns do something. Give Aeon Nokia pleaseee.
@lain
I see you euroboys walking around Manhattan all the time.
Did you fix your teeth, comb your hair and change your old smelly sneakers yet?
@bustafone
I find Apple fanboys to be arrogant, egotistical, and delusional. You pay more for a phone/pc/video/music player that does the same thing other devices have been doing for years, and you claim that the interface makes it revolutionary. It is overly annoying. The commercials are getting completely lame. Because New York Times or Time Magazine gives you an award it doesn't make them the best device for all situations. Last time I checked Time and New York Times aren't tech oriented publications. Invention of the year? They didn't invent anything, they just redid what has been done for years.
Either way it is A-Hole fanboys like this that makes me laugh everytime I refer to Apple for support when their beloved perfect Apple device doesnt work.
This thread seem to be productive :) This was the
negative part i talked above. I'm sure it's 0,1% of Apple users, but getting all personal because of Apple product...c'mon.
The iPhone will be a critical and commercial failure in Europe until a 3G version supporting HSDPA is released. There are much too many good alternatives to the iPhone with much more features and much better cost benefit ratios for operators. Jobs has grossly underestimated the EU market and while publicly every operator will say how well the iPhone is doing, internally they are crying their hearts out. You remember how ATT and Apple were saying the iPhone launch numbers were only to drastically cut prices in a couple of months.
The iPhone is a phenomenal device that is two years late on most features (excluding the Touch feature of course). No one is EU cares. The MacBook air is the next big failure. Mark my words. Its going to be commercially panned purely from being such a gimped laptop for such a price.