O2 chief checks in with Jobs, tells him iPhone sales are on track
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Dec 25th 2007 7:13PM
posted Dec 25th 2007 7:13PM
Following a rather bold claim regarding the iPhone's alleged status as O2's fastest selling device in history, the carrier's CEO paid a little visit out to Cupertino last week to brief Steve personally on just how warmly the iPhone has been received across the pond. Chief Executive Matthew Key says that he expects 200,000 iPhones to be sold on his network by the end of January, meeting O2's expectations set prior to its November launch -- despite the fact that analysts are claiming many more could be sold by then (we suppose it's better to underestimate than overestimate). That's not really the big news here, though; Key also told Jobs that his network's iPhone customers are consuming data at a far more aggressive rate than others, with a full 60 percent using 25MB a month or more compared to just 1.8 percent among the general O2 populace. That, of course, is where the real money lies for O2 in this whole exclusive iPhone deal with Apple, since Cupertino is doing a magnificent job of siphoning off virtually any hope of profit from the hardware itself. In other news, Key says he's confident that O2 will snap up the 3G version of the iPhone when it's launched next year -- especially since Vodafone, Orange, and others should be locked out on account of O2's multi-year contract with Apple in the UK.[Via mocoNews]
Mo money, mo money. Too bad the Brits don't want to spend much money on the iPhone. Their loss.
Yeah, I have never seen such cheap-ass ppl in my life. They want everything for free.
Us Brits are used to getting heavily subsidised handsets. It's not about being cheap. Have you seen how much more we pay for most goods in the UK?
Most folk would be hard justified to drop $550 (iphone cost in the uk with contract) when they can have any other handset on a similar contract for nothing.
Saying that. Some of us think it's worth it. In the UK and posted from my iPhone.
I don't get it. All three O2 iPhone contracts have unlimited data, which you are forced to pay for whether you use it or not. What does O2 care if iPhone owners use more data or less? Actually, I thought they would hope they use less data, so that they don't congest the network. I also thought that O2 would like limited data plans better, as customers subscribing those plans often underestimate their usage, and end up paying through their nose for each KB they use above limit.
25 Megs per month? Are they actually USING the iPhone? I can use that in a day if I watch a bunch of YouTube clips, send a few file attachments, and browse the web for an hour or so.