Apple's iPhone is proving to be a tough sell to the uber sophisticated mobile tastes of the European market. Dubbed as the US' must have gadget of the year, the iPhone has so far failed to impress Europe and sales tell the tales.

The European mobile market is used to having the latest cutting edge features on mobile phones. It even runs on a more advanced 3G platform which is unfortunately limited in the US. Most of the mobile phones that come out in Europe often never make it to the richer mobile market in the US simply because of the lag in the technology behind US mobiles.

While the US based iPhone is widely believed to be high-end mobile technology, in Europe that seems to be an altogether different story. The European mobile market has proved to be more competitive, judging from the abundance of high end mobile phones available, most of which have never been heard of before in the US. Satellite navigation? WiFi? 3G? Sounds like the newest release from an American personal computer, but not on a mobile phone.

In a place where most mobile phones come fully equipped with the latest music, camera and high speed internet connectivity, the only thing that the iPhone seems to be touting is its pioneering interface userability. Touchscreen is the new face of the future it seems.

No 3G for it as of yet, it utilizes the same connectivity technology as in the States, the slower EDGE tech. The current mobile powers that be in Europe promise to accommodate a larger EDGE base access for the users, although by this time next year, iPhone itself may be relaunched with the 3G technology.

Still, the sales are far from bleak. Considering it gained a following in a country where handsets are given free on short lock in contract periods if not paid-as-you-go, the iPhone may have just been given the benefit of the doubt.

But with a unit cost of $557 on top of the 18 monthly contract costs with an exclusive O2 carrier deal, the European market seems to be cringing at the sacrilege, but willing to dive in anyway. Despite its limitations on features, the iPhone's single selling point seems to be the touch sensitivity interface which many have been willing to pay the hefty price for.

Apple is not putting the iPhone up on the pay-as-you-go market which the Europeans are used to. If activation of the purchased unit through cleared credit checks fails, then the purchaser has only one option, which is to return it with all package contents for a full refund.