Free iPhone: Free iPhone's UK sales disappoint

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Free iPhone's UK sales disappoint

Source: www.theinquirer.net

IN A couple of leaks to the FT, O2 and independent reseller - the Carphone Warehouse - have conceded that free iPhone sales have disappointed.

The paper says that between Apple, O2 and the Warehouse, only about 190,000 handsets were sold in the first two months against a target of 200,000.

It's a bit of an embarrassment for some analysts - like Gartner - who had predicted the figure would be more like 350,000 - 400,000.

So what went wrong? As one dealer told the INQ, "The UK is one of the most sophisticated cellular markets in the world. We're not kids."

And quite a few Brits appear to be able to count. If you add the £630 for the minimum 18 month contract to the £269 cost of the free iPhone, you get £899.

Against this most Brits can get a handset on contract for free. Let's see. From 3 you can get 800 minutes and 300 texts for under £30 per month and you pay under £50 for an LG Viewty.

So the trio not only have to do something about the handset price, they have to make the tariff more attractive, too.

Analysts also didn't seem to take into account the impact of Apple's Itouch player.

When the INQ first saw the free iPhone, its video playback capability was by far its best feature.

Yet you can get an Itouch for free if you sign up on a contract with a phone retailer such as Onestopshop.

The Carphone Warehouse made an interesting admission, however. Having an exclusive on the free iPhone amongst retailers got the punters into the stores before Xmas.

It seems that most of them bought something else, though.