iPhone Goes On Sale in Germany, UK
Apple's iPhone went on sale in Europe on Friday, with at least 10,000 of the devices sold already in Germany. Sales are said to be brisk in the UK as well.
Sales of the phone in Germany, where T-Mobile is the partner, began at midnight local time (6pm ET Thursday) at some locations. UK would-be buyers could not get their hands on the iPhone until just after 6pm local time (1pm ET).
Although it is much too soon to tell how sales are in the UK, T-Mobile said that more than 10,000 phones had made it into the hands of consumers by Friday afternoon. Like in the US, queues formed in front of stores that were offering the device.
About 1.4 million units have been sold so far, and the company is expected to ship some 10 million phones next year. Launches in Europe are slated for this year, and the phone is expected to make its way to Asia in 2008.
The price of the phone is 399 euros ($587 USD) in Germany and 269 pounds ($566 USD) in the UK. This is quite expensive when compared to the American iPhone's $399 (€272 and falling) pricetag.
Some analysts fear that unless Apple makes similar moves in Europe to cut the price of the iPhone, it could hurt overseas sales of the device. Some consumers interviewed by press outlets covering the launch did complain about the high price relative to other phone models.