Android sales overtake Apple iPhones (UK)
Tesco Mobile, the UK based MVNO operated by the country’s largest food retailer has confirmed the trend being reported by most analysts – that Android based phones have overtaken sales of Apple iPhones.
Prior to Christmas, Tesco Mobile witnessed Apple iPhones outselling Android smartphones by two-to-one. However, January saw a rapid increase in Android smartphone sales which resulted in like-for-like sales. In February this year, Android smartphones overtook iPhone sales on the Tesco Mobile network.
According to Graham Harris, Chief Executive Officer of Tesco Telecoms and the Tesco Mobile MVNO, one of the UK’s leading operators, these sales are a useful barometer for smartphone trends. There is a lot of choice in the market and as a result, consumers are driving healthy competition between rival operating systems. Tesco Mobile prides itself on customer service and offering customers what they want, through a wide range of competitive deals on all platforms. However, they commend this healthy competition between operating systems as they observe that it offers consumer choice and flexibility.
Nokia N8 to hit UK market on October 15
Nokia has revealed that it will start selling N8 smartphone in the UK market from October 15. The phone will be available for US$681.89 SIM free or on contract from US$47.68 per month.
The device will be available from O2, 3, Virgin, T-Mobile, Orange, Tesco Mobile and Vodafone, plus high-street retailers Phones4u and the Carphone Warehouse.
The N8 features a 3.5in touchscreen, a 12Mp camera with Xenon flash and support for video recording. Other video features include an HDMI port to connect to a TV and support for Dolby Digital Plus surround sound. Users will be able to surf the web using 802.11n. The handset also has 16GB of memory and a micro SD card.
According to Sami Lehtinen from Nokia, the Nokia N8 is one of the most innovative phones of 2010, packed with market leading features, including the best picture and video capability available on a smartphone.
IPhone 4 now available on PAYG
O2 leading service provider in UK has declared that it aims to sell the iPhone 4 on pay-as-you-go deal. O2 declared that it would sell the Apple iPhone with 16 and 32 GB versions for US$773.951 and US$ 930.081 respectively. People can avail 300 texts and 500MB of data with a top up of US$ 15.63 a month.
O2 is the fourth mobile phone operator in UK to sell iPhone4 via PAYG deal. Earlier, Vodafone and Tesco Mobile announced the same deal. However, Tesco Mobile later stated that that it no longer sells the iPhone on that platform. Vodafone however, is now offering the same deal as O2, but at much cheaper prices.
O2 UK raises sales outlook, sees lower margin
O2 UK has increased its outlook for full-year services sales growth to 14-15 percent after reporting strong growth in the third quarter. The mobile operator added 524,000 new customers in the quarter for a total 17.338 million at the end of September. That excludes the wholesale customer base at Tesco Mobile. Net additions included 316,000 prepaid users and 208,000 postpaid customers. Revenues for the eight months to September rose 15 percent from a year earlier to GBP 2.785 billion, and OIBDA increased 27.6 percent to GBP 837 million. The higher sales growth and tough competition on the UK market is expected to impact the operator’s OIBDA margin, which is now forecast down 1 percentage point in the 11 months to end-2006 versus the year-earlier period.O2′ s average revenue per user for the third quarter, on a 12-month rolling contract basis, was GBP 515 for postpaid customers, down from GBP 517 in the second quarter but up from GBP 513 a year earlier. Prepaid ARPU on the same basis rose to GBP 142 from GBP 140 in the second quarter and GBP 135 a year earlier. Subscriber acquisition costs were stable on a blended basis across the customer base, while minutes of use increased thanks in part to promotions such as free wekeend calls. O2 invested GBP 350 million over the eight-month period in capital equipment and network improvements.
Source- telecompaper Wireless Mobile Telecom
