Europe’s Phony iPhone Frenzy
For the faithful, waiting long hours in line for a new Apple (AAPL) product has become one of those formative experiences they’ll be retailing to their grandchildren.
It’s “a bit like going to a rock concert,” Paul Waite told the London Times after sitting in the bitter cold outside Apple’s Regent Street store for 12 1/2 hours on Friday for a chance to buy an iPhone on its first day of sale.
For Apple, the queues have become an important marketing tool — one they carefully nurture and stage manage for maximum effect. The lines of eager buyers generate buzz, build customer loyalty and produce a flood of free publicity in the local media.
And they are totally unnecessary.
Rumors planted by Deutsche Telekom (which owns T-Mobile) of possible holiday shortages in Germany notwithstanding, there were plenty of iPhones in stock when the device made its European debut Friday at midnight. According to the AP, a crowd of 350 braved wind and rain to buy the phone at the Deutsche Telekom shop in Cologne, despite the fact that there were iPhones to be had without a wait at nearly empty T-Mobile shops across the country.
Likewise, a hardy band of a half-dozen hard-core fans shivered through the night outside London’s flagship Regent Street store — the advance party of a much-photographed and interviewed queue that grew to 300 by the time doors opened at 6:02 PM. (The time was a nod to Apple’s British carrier, O2 U.K.) Meanwhile, iPhones were in stock at more than 1,300 other Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse shops.
The fans, for their part, were stroked and coddled through the night by Apple and its corporate partners. Third in line (and first out the door with an iPhone, having waited 26 hours for the honor) was Tomek Jasinski, 20, an architecture student in London. He kept a running diary of his experience in his blog, where he reported that Apple employees provided free coffee (in free Apple mugs), Apple umbrellas and plastic bags to keep dry. The Cloud, whose network will provide free Wi-Fi for the iPhone, was even more generous, providing hoodies and hats and plying Jasinski and his fellow queue-holders with pizza, donuts and Starbucks hot chocolate.
As the crowds grew and the deadline approached, the media gathered in force — at one point, Jasinski counted 25 cameras. The BBC’s Rory Cellan-Jones described the scene at the end as “mayhem.” Just before the doors opened, he said, Apple staffers walked up and down the lines of people, “whipping them into a frenzy.”
Deutsche Telekom says it sold 10,000 iPhones in Germany between midnight and 5 p.m. Friday (link, in German). Apple sold 270,000 in two days after its U.S. debut.
UPDATE: Reader Jasper from L.A. helpfully points to dial-a-phone’s Mobile phone blog, which posted photos of deathly quiet O2 and Carphone Warehouse shops around London as Fleet Street zeroed in on the Apple store on Regent Street. There are nice photos of the mob scene inside that store at AppleInsider. For Fake Steve Jobs’ take, see his Secret Diary here.
[Photo of Jasinski, left, and friend © 2007 Tomek Jasinski. Reposted with permission.]
@Yadgyu,
you say: Yes. People like to buy what’s hot and popular at the moment. That is all that matters.
I say: if almost everybody thinks that something is “cool” and trendy, then it is not.
But my point was not this. You, like so many Apple supporters, jump to defend the divinennes of Apple and its perfect being. Defending and aruing about this or that product makes sense (to me, at least). Defending and glorifying a commercial entity does not.
“Perhaps it is just people jumping on the band-wagon of a wildly successful thing.” - Posted By Asher Pat, London, UK
Yes. People like to buy what’s hot and popular at the moment. That is all that matters.
The responses of people in this blog (and elsewhere) are amazing. Most of the people here jump as if someone insulted their mother! Note that this article does not claim that iPhone is a bad product (but see below) – no, what irritates these people is the mere fact that Apple is fallible at all, even a tiny bit!
I truly wonder why would they do this? Apple is a commercial company with primary intent to extract profits from its customers. There is nothing bad about that but the people that jump to rubbish, deny and discredit anything negative about Apple and amplify anything positive it to godly proportions, as if it is some kind of charitable organisation or an entity the success of which brings pride and joy to these people, such as their biological family or tribe.
Perhaps they do it because they want to make sure that a format that they really like (Macintosh) is not crushed by what they see an inferior but dominant product? Well, Apple is at least fifty times bigger than it was when it had its last near-death experience in late 90s, its market capitalisation surpasses all but one company (MS) and soon will surpass MS too, so the worry is not well, warranted. Apple is secure guys. No need to promote it to save it from collapse.
Perhaps it is just people jumping on the band-wagon of a wildly successful thing. iPod indeed fits this point, in such case, these people are poseurs trying to bask in the light of Apple’s success and domination (a bit like Manchester United). These guys are different to the group above that is composed mainly of the “old guard faithful.
So there you have it. Tribal association with a commercial entity. Apple United, you’ll never walk alone!
PS: as I promised above, a little story – standing in a que in Vodafone shop in London, I saw a guy of about 40 checking latest Nokia N95 who said “iPhone is beautiful but it is rubbish, I gave it to my wife as it impossible to type or do anything other than listen to music and surf Wi-Fi which is a good application”
What’s nefarious here? These lines at product launches are more about apple fans partaking in community (with other apple fanatics) than any real concern about shortages.
RE: “Europe’s Phony iPhone Frenzy”
It’s cold and rainy in Europe at this time. They saw Americans line up during the summer for the iPhone, a very convenient time with pleasant weather.
Don’t you think SOME of the europeans are ordering the iPhone on the internet? Analysts discounted the American iPhone launch sales, and only later realized that many iPhones were purchased through the online Apple store by people in America. You don’t really thing that 1.4 million people purchased iPhones in person, do you?
RE: “Rumors planted by T-Mobile of possible shortages”
Actually, O2 and T-Mobile said that they would have PLENTY of iPhones on hand for the launch. T-Mobile said that it was more worried about the iPhone supply compared to the demand over the HOLIDAYS, but NOT at the launch.
The rumour of the shortage in Germany was for the Christmas shopping season poorly researched one. Or perhaps you decided to do a little “idea shaving” to make it look as if your idea had some support.
why do you imply that iphone sales in europe have to match iphone sales in the u.s. in order to be a success… last i checked the populations in these countries is considerably lower than the u.s. so you should adjust your expectations accordingly. also, apple never said that they wouldn’t have enough iphones to meet demand. in fact, to apple’s credit, they were even able to meet the record-breaking demand at the u.s. release. how about pointing out that no one has ever lined up for any other cell phone?
just like the playstation 3, people wait dayS and fight to get one. then find out there’s piles of piles of PS3 on every stores!
This story was lifted, and not credited, from here: http://www.dialaphone.co.uk/blog/?p=750
nice try, Phil.
ex ped: Nice try, Jasper. I hadn’t see that story. But thanks for the link. –Philip Elmer-DeWitt
A lot of companies use this tactic, nothing new here. Invented in the 70’s at clubs like Studio 54 and the like.
A little more than 10 years ago I did work for Planet Hollywood, another company that honed this promotional ploy. Lines would stretch around the block but inside half the seats were empty. Works like a charm ;)
Old news, Why you are singling out Apple is a bit peculiar…
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Silicon Valley veterans like to joke that Steve Jobs must be surrounded by a reality distortion field; if you get too close to him, you start to believe what he's saying. Thanks to the success of the iPod, the launch of the iPhone and the renewed interest in the Mac, Apple has made believers out of millions of customers - and made a lot of investors rich. But Philip Elmer-DeWitt believes that an ounce of skepticism never hurts when writing about the company. He should know. He's been covering Apple - and watching Steve Jobs operate - since 1982, first for Time Magazine, then for Business 2.0, and now for Fortune.
What do you think the kids want for Christmas, both in North America, Europe and China etc, etc, etc, !!
58% survey appl iphone
28% survey appl ipod
Mom, Gram, Gramp, will Santa be able to bring me an ipod!! I sure hope so, I’ve been a good little girl!!