The anticipated sales of the Apple iPhone in the UK fell just short of what O2 had expected. O2 is the mobile operator exclusive network for the Apple iPhone in the UK. Shortly before the iPhone was released in the UK on November 9th, it was expected that sales would reach more than 200,000 models within just the first two months. People who are familiar with the situation, however, said that the figures were closer to 190,000 for those first eight weeks.
This led the way to O2 overhauling the cost of using the iPhone within the first two months after its UK release. Due to the lower numbers, O2 has now promised iPhone owners who currently pay the lower tariff rates of £35 and £45 per month a much better package. They also introduced a “super-tier” contract that will set users back £75 per month. This new contract will allow users to have up to three times more free calls and text messages for the same monthly price. Users on this plan will enjoy 3,000 talk minutes and 500 text messages each month. The customers on the £35 tariff will now receive 600 free monthly minutes of talk time instead of the original 200. The company also stated that the £55 monthly plan will be eliminated from their options, which will instantly move those customers on this plan currently to the new £45 per month plan, which will give them the same features.
While the cost of the iPhone itself is not expected to drop below the £269 that it currently costs, and the length of all contracts will remain at 18 months, O2 has stated that it is happy with the performance of the iPhone and that they expect all their existing customers to be more than satisfied with the monthly tariff changes.