Well considering that the first iPhone only sold 10 million (the number that SJ said was his goal at introduction) and that it didn’t go on sale in France until 5 months after it was introduced in the US, that’s not really much evidence toward anything.

https://www.thestreet.com/technology/iphone-to-debut-in-fran...

Maybe it's also the lack of unit availability but the fact that you could not communicate with friends made it a non-starter.

In the US the initial iPhone was a bit of a sensation. Demand outstripped supply at first, and people waited outside stores for hours to snag one. It sold less than future models would, because it seemed fairly expensive and the value proposition wasn't yet 100% clear to many. But basically everyone knew about the iPhone and had an opinion one way or the other, generally positive.

Even now the iPhone isn't as popular in mainland Europe as it is in the UK, Ireland, and the US.

Yeah that's a very big contrast to what happened on my side, I remember only one guy I know getting it and he did not use it for long because he couldn't discuss with his friends which were either using mms or msn messenger.