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Sales of Apple phone slower than expected as customers smart at £900 cost
Last updated at 00:07am on 11.11.07
The new iPhone has a hefty £900 price tag
But just hours after going on sale in the UK, the new Apple iPhone was met with disappointment by buyers struggling to get to grips with its shortcomings and its hefty £900 cost.
Sales of the phones were reported to be slower than expected at stores in Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham. And many of the stores still had iPhones in stock when they closed last night.
What do you think of the iPhone? Tell us in Reader Comments below
Anyone who buys an iPhone has to pay £269 for the handset and sign up for an 18-month contract with the O2 mobile phone network at £35 a month, making a total of £899.
Chris Appleton, 27, who visited the O2 shop in New Street, Birmingham, said: "It looks good, and will be a great gadget for Christmas, but the price is too steep. I haven't got £269 to spend on the handset, let alone the £630 for the contract as well."
Victoria Hart, 27, who was windowshopping nearby, echoed this view. "I was thinking of buying one for my boyfriend, but he already has an iPod, a mobile and a laptop. On that basis, it doesn't seem worth it."
While it has wowed many with its multi-touch screen, camera, music and video player, and wireless internet capability, the iPhone can store only around 2,000 songs, just a twentieth of the latest iPod's capacity.
Critics have also cited the iPhone's lack of 3G connection - which give users high-speed internet access - as a major disadvantage. And unlike its competitors, the iPhone is unable to record video footage andO2 also uses an unfamiliar virtual keyboard for text messages.
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Staff at an O2 store near Birmingham admitted that they were forced to give at least one customer a refund yesterday because his iPhone would not even switch on.
Critics have also pointed to the fact that the iPhone is nearly identical to another Apple product, the iPod Touch.
Rob Waugh, technology expert for The Mail on Sunday's Live magazine-said: "It's extremely expensive-rather large, and has an underpowered camera and email system but the sheer style and technical innovation of its touchscreen controls mean that it is still a total must-have - a taste of the future for handheld gadgets."
Apple refused to comment on the number of iPhones sold in Britain since its launch on Friday evening, calling the information "commercially sensitive".
But student Tomek Jasinski, 20, who was one of the first people in Britain to buy an iPhone, said: "I queued 26 hours for it and I don't regret a minute of that time.
"Using the iPhone is like being given the keys to a new kingdom. The only bad thing about it is that everyone I meet wants to have a look at it."
And Paulina Roszuk, 27, from Romford, Essex, who queued for 16 hours outside Apple's flagship store on London's Regent Street, to get hers, said: "It's O2 beautiful, sexy, glamorous and very futuristic.
"It's simply amazing and one day everyone will have one."
Reader views (5)
"...and one day everyone will have one...."
That's what happens when you "dumb-down" a nation and manipulate them into buying rubbish we don't need. You know they are already working on the next "essential gadget" don't you? I give it a year before this junk is outdated.
- Jon, London, UK
I challenge you to go into a shop, pick one up and not be completely converted within 2 minutes. My wife hates macs whilst I'm a long time fan. She was hooked in seconds. The user interface is years ahead of anything else. Unfortunately, I can't argue that the contract is restrictive and forget about the web connection unless you use it in wifi mode (the only sensible thing to do anyway).
- James, London
There is no competition for me, I will always prefer the Blackberry Perl.
I can't even see myself using an Ipod outside of my car.
- Lee Townsend, Mandeville, Jamaica
I don't get what all the fuss is about. There are plenty of gadgets that do similar things and even more such as surf the web, take vids etc for far less money.
- Hobbs, London, UK
I'd struggle with the £600+ contract fee myself ...
- Marianne, SW France
