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iPhone set for UK launch today

The announcement of Apple's plans for a UK iPhone launch is due later this morning, with any such release likely to benefit rival phone makers rather than hurt sales.

By Tarmo Virki, Reuters and Chris Green, IT PRO, 17 Sep 2007 at 22:16

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"You need a brand, a product and a distribution to get market share. They got the brand, but the product is limited and distribution is rather limited," said Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics.

"The impact would not be meaningful largely because of the price... it looks like the product price is not subsidised," said Nomura analyst Richard Windsor.

At a price of around £300-400, the iPhone faces competition from operators which offer models such as Nokia's N95 - which is 3G, has a 5-megapixel camera and a GPS positioning chip - for free on longer contracts.

Analysts pointed also to the difficulty of typing SMS messages on a touch screen, long contracts, built-in batteries and lack of 3G capability.

"We don't see enormous impact as 3G is becoming a must in smartphones. There are no meaningful EDGE networks in Europe," said Nomura's Windsor.

But not all analysts agreed.

"It doesn't actually matter, people buy it as a status symbol," said CCS's Ben Wood.

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