High iPhone sales in UK

The UK continues to maintain high sales of the iPhone 3G two months into availability, says Mobile. The publication says it has learned that some 27,000 phones are being sold each week in the region, making for a marketshare somewhere between 4 to 6 percent of cellphones. At times, a source suggests, this number can climb closer to 10 percent, although it has typically settled down within a short space of time.

Sales are said to have been especially high in the first two weeks of availability, reaching a rate of 50,000 phones. Apple and UK carrier O2 are said to be interested in maintaining the current rate as they enter the holiday season, though prepaid purchases may take over from the current contract options. O2 is in fact claimed to be setting aside a large portion of its acquisition budget for the iPhone, with the aim of persuading Apple that it should be allowed to keep exclusivity when it comes to future products.

by MacNN Staff