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Rory Cellan-Jones

iPhone shake-up

  • Rory Cellan-Jones
  • 30 Jan 08, 16:55 GMT

I'm up a mountain in Austria on holiday but even here - via my tiny hotel's very efficient wi-fi - news arrives of a .

And for all the protestations from O2 that this is the bestselling handset ever, one can't see the new tariff as anything more than confirmation that sales have really tailed off since that early rush last November.

Neither O2 nor Carphone Warehouse have released any sales figures but anecdotal evidence suggests that canny British customers - used to getting a free handset and oodles of calls and texts for an 18-month 拢35 a month contract - have baulked at the idea of paying 拢269 for an iPhone and then 拢35 a month for a rather meagre number of calls.

Apple's entry into the mobile phone market has been a spectacular success when it comes to devising a handset that suddenly makes the mobile internet a pleasure rather than a chore. But the firm is finding that in this global business there are plenty of local peculiarities - and in Britain at least you鈥檒l struggle to persuade customers that a phone doesn't come free with a contract.

One thing that O2 hasn't changed is the 拢7 a megabyte tariff for data abroad - though the firm tells me there will be a 40% cut in the summer. And that is why I'm using wi-fi rather than Austria's mobile network to send this blog.

Comments

  • 1.
  • At 05:50 PM on 30 Jan 2008,
  • Bill Ritchotte wrote:

Free phones with a contract are not a "Global" marketplace anomaly. Americans get free phones and free phone upgrades with most every contract.

Smart phones are not generally offered for free.

  • 2.
  • At 07:30 PM on 30 Jan 2008,
  • Anton wrote:

Based on the 7 pound per MB you actually saved something of the order of 1 cent! Congratulations!
I guess the point is that the tariff is outrageous and I agree to that. The tariff prohibits the use of internet over the mobile network for anything but ASCII text. Perhaps the service providers in reality prefer not to provide this service, so as to avoid huge investments in the network?

  • 3.
  • At 07:56 PM on 30 Jan 2008,
  • Rob wrote:

So you wrote this on your iPhone?

  • 4.
  • At 09:17 PM on 30 Jan 2008,
  • Edward Maxwell wrote:

I'm delighted to hear this but the one thing that has always been great about this phone is the unlimited data in the UK.

As for costing 拢7 a month when abroad, thank you! I couldn't find that information anywhere from O2 or Apple: now I know why!

  • 5.
  • At 11:56 PM on 30 Jan 2008,
  • Brian Eady wrote:

Perhaps people are being put off by the unhelpful way non o2 networks treat you when you want to port over the number. I tried this with Vodafone and I think they were reading from a 'be obstructive' script

  • 6.
  • At 09:12 AM on 31 Jan 2008,
  • James McDowall wrote:

I had to ring the iPhone team yesterday actually to check out the new pricing tariffs. I did advise I was going on holiday in May and was correctly advised to turn Data Roaming off and use the local wireless if available. They also mentioned to turn off the voicemail as you will get charged for the incoming call plus the UK call before even listening to it!.

I will note that the updates are good with multiple messaging and multiple home screens though I was hoping for Multimedia messaging in order to maximise the use of the camera but for now email will have to do!

The huge upfront cost was the main reason I didn't get an iphone. I just couldn't justify the cost, especially when I got the Orange SPV E650 for free!

OK, so it's no iphone and it is a bit sluggish, but it does have a huge catalogue or software for it, as well as actually being a good phone!

Running Windows mobile, it does have the wonderful kinks of it's big brother. It runs slow after a while, so a reboot is required, it doesn't release memory when you close applications and it crashes sometimes and you have to remove the battery.

These things do not happen on the iphone, well not as much, just like OS X doesn't crash as much as Windows.(Yes, OS X can crash!)

So, maybe the iphone isn't that expensive after all. I guess you really do get what you pay for!

  • 8.
  • At 10:46 AM on 31 Jan 2008,
  • Tobias wrote:

The increased text and minutes won't make much difference to me, but I am a relatively low user and I think it will be a real incentive for the talkaholics.

With the included wi-fi, I thought the O2 tariff was already reasonable. It's the cost of the phone that's the problem, although of course, you do pay for your phone through your mobile subscription in the first place - there's no such thing as 'free'.

Bottom line is that a phone for 拢269 + 拢35/month over 18 months is the equivalent of 拢50/month and getting a free phone.

If you want a basic spec mobile phone, you can get one 'free' for half this level of subscription or less, and save yourself 拢450 over 18 months.

If what you want is a smart phone, then,say a Nokia N95 on O2 is 拢100 plus a 拢35/month subscription, saving 拢169 over 18 months.

Apple users (such as myself) have always been prepared to pay a premium for a better product. And the demographic of Apple users is such that 拢269 isn't such a big deal. But that is a huge obstacle to a mass market, and I do not think that the pricing is quite right yet.

  • 9.
  • At 12:07 PM on 31 Jan 2008,
  • Dominick Lock wrote:

I purchased an iPhone in November and I'm pleased that O2 have adjusted their iPhone tariffs. To pay 拢35 a month for 200 minutes and 200 texts is uncomparible to other phones on other networks. I'm not a "serial" texter but just an extra 70 odd texts outside of the free ones cost me nearly 拢10 more!

I also don't think that 拢269 for a handset with all the features (and the flaws) of the iPhone is that bad! For years I bought Windows PocketPCs and Windows Smartphones and the latest models, even with a contract, can cost more than this! In my opinion, the iPhone is worth every single penny - it's just awesome!

  • 10.
  • At 12:30 PM on 31 Jan 2008,
  • Yild wrote:

I've sent an e-mail to O2 coplaining about their pricing with a table showing comparison between American and UK prices as iPhone sells cheaper in USA. O2 called me back a week later telling me that they can not do anything on iPhone price as all been set by Apple. Then I sent same mail to Apple, but I guess Apple doesn't want to be critised and they prefer not to reply to customer complaints...

  • 11.
  • At 12:40 PM on 31 Jan 2008,
  • Mike wrote:

I was over the moon to get the textfrom 02 this morning - my iPhone plan now has more than 3 times the minutes and more than double the texts. I can't tell you how much I love this phone. I can't imagine I'll ever have anything other than an iPhone for some time.

From 02: We're really pleased to tell you that we are upgrading your 拢35 iPhone tariff in Feb so you will benefit by mid March at the latest.

The new tariff will take your minutes from 200 to 600 and your texts from 200 to 500. Plus you'll continue to receive the same unlimited UK data allowing you to surf the internet on your iPhone.

  • 12.
  • At 01:39 PM on 31 Jan 2008,
  • Glenn wrote:

Apple's taken a miss-step with the iphone. On the one hand the company's demonstrated, once again, that it can design and bring to market an exciting, must-have piece of technology. But this has been undermined by their decision to lock the iphone to one service provider per country. Not only has this reinforced the worst pricing practices of the mobile telecom companies, it's ensured complaints about tariffs are tied to the product, something their competitors, Nokia, Motorola, Rim etc., avoid.

As if that weren't bad enough, we all know Apple went this route in order to maximize their share of the charges levied by the mobile telecom operators. The story of the iphone should be the story of how Apple revolutionized the mobile telecoms industry, not of how it became greedy.

  • 13.
  • At 02:58 PM on 31 Jan 2008,
  • Glenn wrote:

Apple's may have taken a miss-step with the iphone. On the one hand the company's demonstrated, once again, that it can design and bring to market an exciting, must-have piece of technology. But this is in danger of undermined by their decision to lock the iphone to one service provider per country. Not only has this reinforced the worst pricing practices of the mobile telecom companies, it's ensured complaints about tariffs are tied to the handset, something their competitors, Nokia, Motorola, Rim etc., avoid by making their products more generally available.

As if that weren't bad enough, we all know Apple went this route in order to maximize their share of the charges levied by the mobile telecom operators. The story of the iphone should be the story of how Apple revolutionized the mobile telecoms industry. Instead the company鈥檚 beginning to look greedy.

  • 14.
  • At 03:24 PM on 31 Jan 2008,
  • wrote:

In reply to the comment about Apple's UK pricing, I would have to agree.

Recently, I wrote on my blog Ambercat.blogspot.com about a range of UK/US price differences which showed that in the UK we are paying up to 40% more for some items.

...and yes I did take into account VAT and other tax diffrences.

  • 15.
  • At 10:28 AM on 01 Feb 2008,
  • Chris Townsend wrote:

Is there really anybody still using an iPhone locked to O2 who doesn't want to? There are dozens of places you can go to for information on how to unlock the device. In the UK there are even High Street stores you can walk into and they will do it for you.

I have a very basic Nokia handset at the moment which does nothing more than make calls and send texts. I barely use it, so it suits me, and it's on an Orange pay-as-you-go tariff because that's the only reliable network in the rural area I live in.

I also own an ageing Palm m515 and a 1st generation iPod, which is a great talking point because I got it just three months post-launch, back when it was a niche, Mac-only product, long before the PC brigade jumped on the bandwagon.

Both the Palm and the iPod are however now museum pieces lacking in both capacity and capability. It is mainly them that I would like to replace, but rather than getting an iPod touch I might as well get an iPhone and do away with the Nokia as well - leaving me with just one, very pretty device in my pocket that will immediately sync up with all the existing stuff in iTunes, iCal and Address Book on my iMac.

The iPhone is not just a mobile handset so I don't think it's unreasonable to charge what they are charging for it. I wouldn't expect a free Palm or a free iPod. But having paid for the handset I would expect to be able to do what I want to do with my property.

I don't drive my car only on roads approved by Ford and I don't use my washing machine only with the detergent recommended by the manufacturer.

Just as soon as I've scraped together enough pocket money to buy an iPhone, and immediately get it professionally unlocked, that's what I'll be doing - and then I'll be slotting in my current SIM and carrying on as before, same phone number, same tariff, and spending considerably less per month than O2 requires, even after its recent reductions.

  • 16.
  • At 05:01 PM on 01 Feb 2008,
  • chris phillips wrote:

I think the Touch has something to do with these slowing sales figures as the 1.1.3 update to provide Mail and the other goodies (Maps is a wonder) make this a better option when the 16 gigs capacity and lack of contract are taken into consideration (not to mention the significantly svelter thinness). If Apple do a deal with Fon and Cloud continues its expansion then WiFi will be a better choice for data transfers on the move than mobile networks - oh and one more thing... Skype + the February software developers kit = Touch iPhone !!

  • 17.
  • At 12:14 PM on 02 Feb 2008,
  • Robert G wrote:

What really bugs me is that although I want an iPhone I can't have one, because I am tied to Orange for business purposes.

If I go down to the beach and look across the sea though, I can just make out a Frenchman with an iPhone on Orange, mocking me like something from a Monty Python film.

  • 18.
  • At 09:13 AM on 03 Feb 2008,
  • Robert G wrote:

What really bugs me is that although I want an iPhone I can't have one, because I am tied to Orange for business purposes.

If I go down to the beach and look across the sea though, I can just make out a Frenchman with an iPhone on Orange, mocking me like something from a Monty Python film.

  • 19.
  • At 03:55 PM on 27 Feb 2008,
  • Claire D wrote:

I have been wanting an iphone since the US launch but am tied into a Vodafone contact till the summer. If people are wondering why the sales have be so low its because people like cant get one... even though we want one!

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