iPhone 1st Weekend in Europe

IanFogg | November 13, 2007, 05:44 PM

A word of caution to anyone speculating on European sales... remember it's not the first weekend sales that matter, but what impact iPhone will have on mobile business models and on usage of the Internet on mobile phones.

Will the iPhone make the Internet interesting and usable to the mass market? And, if so, will increased mobile Internet usage deliver improved revenues for mobile operators?

My take on the reported but unconfirmed issues for Apple, T-Mobile and O2 and the rest, these first few days after the launch are that it's due to the long delay between the original announcement (January), the US launch (June), and the eventual European availability (November).

Apple and its operator partners have lost out on the tremendous mainstream press coverage earlier in the year. By the time of this launch, iPhone was old news for the media.

This current press coverage doesn't make the iPhone any less of a good product and it shouldn't allow Apple's competitors to rest any easier.