Thu, 07/29/2010 – 11:21 by On the recent Apple earnings call there were a couple of questions about “Antennagate” and whether the controversy had hurt Apple sales or demand for the iPhone 4. The company said that it had not been hurt and that demand remained very strong — so strong that there’s a 21 day wait to get the handset in the US.
It appeared that Apple had “dodged a bullet.” But perhaps not so fast. As the device
heads to markets outside the US there may be reason to believe the negative PR could dampen interest.
A recent online
survey of 2,089 UK adults (7/16-7/19), conducted by Opinium Research, suggests that some potential UK consumers may stay away:
- 57% said they had no intention of buying the device.
- 26% of UK consumers are less likely to move to an iPhone 4
- 45% of iPhone 3GS owners said “they were less likely to buy or upgrade to an iPhone 4”
There are differences between attitudes and behavior, between what people say and then later what they actually do. Then there’s the question of how many of the 57% wouldn’t have bought an iPhone anyway. Well the table above says that 15% of that 57% are current iPhone owners/users.
Regardless of the precise figures, these numbers and the sentiment behind them should worry Apple and could translate into less than expected iPhone 4 sales in the UK and elsewhere in Europe perhaps.
