| Tonight's the night for UK iPhone buyers |
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| by Stephen Withers | |
| Friday, 09 November 2007 | |
  
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Two is also the number of iPhones that any one customer will be allowed to purchase, but the company did not say whether the 'credit card only' sales policy recently introduced in the US would apply in the UK. The £269 iPhone will be available at more that 1300 Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse outlets. "We can't wait for our customers to get their hands on the iPhone this Friday night," said Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of retail. "Every Apple retail store will offer support for iPhone at the legendary Genius Bar, and beginning Saturday morning you can learn how to get the most out of your new iPhone by attending a free workshop or scheduling a personal training session through our popular One-to-One program," he added. O2 sales director Mark Stansfeld seemed equally hyped. "O2 stores are fully geared up for what will be the year's biggest product launch," he said. "We've hired and trained hundreds of new iPhone specialists who will be in all 450 O2 stores giving live demos and showing customers how to get the most out of their iPhone." O2's iPhone related plans start at £35 including unlimited use of the O2 mobile data network (but only for personal use the iPhone itself - use as a data modem is prohibited) and of The Cloud Wi-Fi network that covers 7500 locations around the country. According to reports from the UK (eg Macworld, tuaw), a queue began to form on Thursday outside the Regent Street (London) Apple Store. It seems unlikely that initial demand will be as frantic as it was in the US. The iPhone also goes on sale in Germany today through T-Mobile. French buyers will have to wait until later this month. While French law requires carriers to unlock phones at the customer's request, selling the device with a service contract provides an effective lock-in. That still leaves the possibility that people will buy iPhones in France and have them unlocked with the intention of selling them immediately at exorbitant prices in countries where the handset is not yet available. |
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