France Telecom’s mobile operator, Orange, announced today in a press statement
that 30000 were sold in five days. Although, the number might seem like a water
drop in a ocean considering that Apple sold, according to some estimations,
270,000 on the first weekend, for an European debut is still impressive.
Orange seemed pleased with
the figures especially because 80% of customers sign up for a dedicated "Orange for iPhone" plan at the same time and 48% of iPhone
sales lead to a new Orange line subscription.
According to Orange, iPhone
is available in 680 Orange points of sale in France,
on www.orange.fr and through Orange customer
services.
But, as the French newspaper Le Figaro noted, the rumors
about a new 3G iPhone could hurt the sales.
On November 29, during a meeting in California, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told
reporters that a 3G version of Apple’s gadget would be available in 2008. Although
a 3G version of iPhone was also confirmed by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in June, he
didn’t reveal any details or a possible launch date.
According to the media reports, 3G subscriptions plans are
very successful in France.
SFR, the French mobile operator owned by Vivendi and Vodafone, has introduced in
November new 3G subscriptions plans with full Internet access.
Called Illimythics
and priced from 49 euros to 69 euros per month for a two-year agreement, the subscriptions
plans are offered with six mobile phones such as HTC TouchDial, LG KS20, Nokia
N95, Sony Ericsson W910 and Samsung F700. SFR said in two weeks it has sold 40
000 Illimythics plans and 60 percent of them were acquired by new clients.
Tough, the French media agreed that 30000 units sold in five
days represent a good debut for iPhone.
So far, it seems like iPhone is enjoying a real success in Europe. Last month a T-Mobile official said that 10,000
units were sold in Germany
in the first day of availability. Also, Telefonica’s O2 named iPhone the
fastest-selling device, but the company, which is the official distributor of
iPhone in UK,
didn’t release any sales data.
