UK price cuts for iPhone and T-Mobile's G1 Google phone?

News
By Miya Knights
published

Following the announcement of a cut in T-Mobile’s Android G1 handset US pricing, rumours fly that the same will happen in the UK and that O2 will follow suit with price cuts for the iPhone too.

Rumours are suggesting that T-Mobile and O2 are set to slash the pricing on their Android G1 and Apple iPhone offers in the UK respectively.

The rumours stem from the fact that US retailer Costco last week cut the price of the black HTC G1 Android phone by $100 (71.41) to only $79.99 (57.12) as supplied exclusively by T-Mobile US on a new or upgraded two-year contract, with a minimum monthly spend of $24.99 (17.85).

Last week, Amazon also cut its pricing of the T-Mobile G1, which also features Google's Android mobile operating system, to $98 (69.99), while an unlocked version costs $399.99 (285.65) in the US and 395 in the UK.

T-Mobile currently offers the G1 exclusively in the UK on a range of tariffs, the lowest being its 18-month Combi 20 contract, where the phone is free but the contract requires a minimum monthly spend of 48.92.

But Vodafone, and not T-Mobile, has won the exclusive rights to sell the next-generation HTC Magic smartphone.

As a result, a number of news sources have speculated that T-Mobile UK is set to follow its US counterpart and reduce its G1 pricing and that O2 will do the same and cut the price of Apple's iPhone 3G, which it also sells exclusively in the UK.

Currently, the 16GB version is only free on an 18-month, 75 per month O2 contract, while the 8GB version is free with a similar length contract costing 45 per month or more.

The report also suggested the O2 iPhone price cuts may be in advance of the introduction of new, cut-down version of its popular smartphone device touted as a possible iPhone nano'.

Apple had not yet responded to requests for comment at the time of writing, while both T-Mobile and O2 refused to comment on the rumours.

Miya Knights
Miya Knights

A 25-year veteran enterprise technology expert, Miya Knights applies her deep understanding of technology gained through her journalism career to both her role as a consultant and as director at Retail Technology Magazine, which she helped shape over the past 17 years. Miya was educated at Oxford University, earning a master’s degree in English.

Her role as a journalist has seen her write for many of the leading technology publishers in the UK such as ITPro, TechWeekEurope, CIO UK, Computer Weekly, and also a number of national newspapers including The Times, Independent, and Financial Times.