iPhone's Damp Squib

10:30 AM -- Depending on your point of view, the iPhone launch in the U.K. and Germany was either a damp squib or an explosive success. But it seems to me that most people who think the latter either work for Telefónica UK Ltd. or T-Mobile International AG or they braved the rain and snow to be among the first to buy one of the widgets. (See Europe iPhones It In.)

Peter Erskine, chief executive of Telefónica Europe plc (O2) , said that O2 sold tens of thousands of iPhones over the weekend, but O2 would not officially reveal the actual number sold.

In Germany, T-Mobile said it sold more than 10,000 of the devices on the first day.

But check out these posts to catch a glimpse of the underwhelming effect Apple's new device has had on some Europeans:

— Michelle Donegan, Euro Squib Editor, Unstrung