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| CURRENT SECTION :: News | UK's most visited IT Contractor Site - 250k unique visitors March 2008 |
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Mobile phone carriers are pushing the Apple iPhone by slashing the price of a standard handset by £100. Until June 1, the 8GB iPhone will fall to £169, representing a 37% drop in price since its debuted six months ago. The offer, which is only available via its UK carriers O2 and Carphone Warehouse, follows Apple’s ‘early-bird’ deal of $100 of credit for US customers. The company subsequently cut the price tag of the handset by $200 to its current $399 – about £30 more expensive than it is in the UK under the new offer. Closer to home, it was a given a push in France when T-Mobile announced it was fixing the starting price for a standard iPhone at €99 – about £78, representing a 75% price cut since its launch. Explaining the price cut in the UK, 02 told yesterday’s Independent on Sunday that it was a “very good way” to “expand” its “fastest selling handset” even further. In fact, when Apple shipped the millionth handset, the California-based giant said the device had achieved in 74 days what it took the iPod to rack up after two years. However, the price cuts in France and now in the UK will be seized on by some observers as proof that iPhone sales have slowed. Apple fan sites, meanwhile, are ablaze with a more optimistic interpretation: the maker’s cheapening of its standard iPhone is to make way for an advanced iPhone – new or revised. The hope is that Apple will unveil the model in June - the same month the price cut ends, and is based on a reported hunch from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. In a note to clients, the analyst was quoted by Apple Insider as saying sales of Apple’s 2.5G handsets had been “lacklustre” in Germany, hinting at the motive for the recent reduction. Separately, the company reported over 100,000 unique downloads of its iPhone applications kit for third party software developers after the four days since its launch last month. Last week, Apple switched the handset’s focus to enterprise, saying it wants to hear from IT departments interested in testing iPhone 2.0 software by trying its features in their corporate environment. Apr 21, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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