Maybe a tad too quick on calling Iphone sales in Europe

As the numbers come out, and as Wired Business rightly points out, there is a question of were bloggers too quick (including us) in writing off the European launch of the Apple Iphone. With Ars Reporting some 8000 activations, which is much more important than the actual cell phones sold, in Germany, and car warehouse talking in the 10’s of thousands of IPhones sold, maybe we called it a bit too quick.

Ok, realistically, folks could spin this anyway they wanted to, arguments could run all over the place, with the starting point of “well 200,000 were sold in the USA, so 10’s of thousands or even 8,000 is not even in the ball park”. The realistic idea is though is not that a number sold, it is in the activations, and what brings in customers. Car Warehouse might have been having problems that night; there is any number of possible answers here.

Indeed, it’s not just iPhone sales numbers that indicate success, as many have already pointed out. Even more good news for O2 came in the form of new customer data this week. According to the carrier, nearly two thirds of those who purchased the Apple handset were new customers. And despite the difference in UK and U.S. sales numbers, the iPhone is undoubtedly driving customers to the carrier just as it has done here. AT&T, for instance, reported a net gain of 2.0 million wireless subscribers in the first full quarter since the introduction of Apple iPhone, the highest third-quarter subscriber increase in the company’s history. Source: Wired Blogs

That is where the good news comes in, and this is what makes apple all the more interesting as a device manufacturer and eco-system building power machine. While some might argue that it is the computer that put apple on the map, it is its devices and ecosystems that it builds that keeps it running.

The more interesting story is what is being negotiated in china right now, apple would be smart to pursue the quickly growing middle class of china and make a deal with their carriers to also do Iphone business.