Apple reveals 5.2m iPhone sales in Q2

Apple has reported impressive revenue and profit growth in its financial results for Q2 2009.

The company generated revenues of $8.34 billion during Q2 (its third quarter), up 12% year-on-year. Meanwhile, its net profits jumped 15% to $1.23 billion.

iPhone was the star of the quarter, with 5.2 million being sold. The figure includes the new iPhone 3GS, which launched in June.

While the year-on-year jump in iPhone sales is a huge 626%, that's largely down to the fact that the free iPhone 3GS didn't come out until July last year, meaning that sales weren't spectacular during Q2 of that year.

Apple says it sold 10.2 million iPods in Q2 this year, down 7% year-on-year. It's tempting to suggest that mobile handsets - including the iPhone - are finally cannibalising iPod sales - something that's been predicted by analysts for some time.

Last week, Apple announced that it now has 40 million iPhones and iPod touches in consumers' hands and capable of accessing the App Store, which has now generated more than 1.5 billion app downloads.

Source: mobile-ent.biz

O2 May Lose Exclusivity On iPhone Contract

O2 could soon lose its exclusive deal to distribute Apple’s iPhone contract, it has emerged.

Theregister.co.uk, a technology website, reports that T-Mobile UK, the German-owned operator that is the fourth-biggest player in the British mobile market, is in talks with Apple about a distribution agreement for the free iPhone 3GS.

This would end the exclusivity that O2 has enjoyed since the iPhone was launched in Britain in 2007.

Theregister.co.uk said that the talks concerned only distribution of the iPhone 3G and that, regardless of the outcome of Apple’s talks with T-Mobile UK, O2 would retain exclusivity for the iPhone 3GS — the newer, faster model launched by Apple last month. It said that it was also possible that Orange could strike a distribution deal with Apple.

There has been speculation for months that Apple wanted to end its exclusive distribution deals for the iPhone, a move that would also hit AT&T, the handset’s distributor in the United States. Most industry analysts believe that consumer loyalty is primarily to Apple, rather than to network operators such as O2 and AT&T.

Rival operators to the incumbents in France and Germany already offer the iPhone.

The news comes two weeks after it was revealed that Vodafone and O2 have both expressed interest in buying T-Mobile UK.

Ronan Dunne, UK chief executive of O2, said yesterday that Telefónica, O2’s Spanish parent company, was watching developments with interest. He said: “We haven’t explicitly said whether we are participating in anything. To my knowledge, there isn’t a formal [sale] process go-ing on.”

Article Source: Times Online

£900 for an unlocked iPhone 3GS

This give you even more reason why you need to get your free iPhone here at Simplyfreeiphone.........

According to: P C Pro

Play.com is selling unlocked iPhone 3GS handsets in the UK - but the handsets come at the eye-watering price of £900.

Despite rumours that it was losing its exclusivity, O2 remains the sole official iPhone network in the UK, forcing customers of the other networks to jump ship if they want to get their hands on the Apple device.

However, Play.com appears to have got its hands on a batch of unlocked models. The 32GB model is shipped without a SIM card, and can allegedly be used on any UK network. One customer leaving a comment on the Play.com site claims to have had no problems connecting to the Orange network with the device.

The £900 price tag may seem incredibly steep, but it's actually not that much more expensive than the cost of buying the device on contract from O2.

The 32GB device costs £274.23 on a £29.38 per month contract with O2, which lasts for 18 months, giving a total cost of ownership of £803.07.

However, buyers of the unlocked handset will of course have to pay the monthly/pay-as-you-go tariff on the network of their choice.

Play.com may well be looking to cash in on demand for the iPhone 3GS, with stocks reportedly running low at O2.

Win a free iPhone 3GS

Their competition deadline is still some way off but Gadgets4nowt wont be taking any chances on iPhone stock.

An iPhone 3GS has already been secured and arrived with them this morning (as you can see from the date on the news headline if you expand the image!).

Click on the following image to go enter for your chance to win the free iPhone 3GS: