O2 reports massive iPhone sales in UK

Mobile phone giant O2 today said it had sold “tens of thousands” of iPhones since the much-anticipated handsets went on sale in the UK on Friday.

The group, which is owned by Spain’s Telefonica, confirmed the iPhone had now become its fastest selling device yet.

O2 added that two thirds of those buying iPhones were new customers to the group and had switched from other mobile phone operators.

The rush to buy iPhones saw the number of visitors to O2 stores soar to three times those recorded in the same weekend last year, according to the group.

It is said to have hired more than 1,000 extra staff to help cope with demand.

O2 expects to sell “a couple of hundred thousand” iPhones over Christmas and New Year.

It also today reiterated forecasts for UK revenue growth of between 15% and 18%, with hopes to perform at the top end of those expectations.

The group has already seen like-for-like revenues rise by 10% in the first nine months of the year, according to its third quarter results out today.

Average revenue per UK user in the quarter rose from £23.40 (€33) last year to £24.30 (€34), added the group.

O2 now has around 18 million customers in the UK alone.

It said that while the iPhone handset will help boost performance, customers with the phone will only represent a fraction of its total base.

O2 is the exclusive mobile network for iPhone handsets in the UK after beating off competition from rivals such as Vodafone.

The handsets went on sale simultaneously at around 1,300 branches of Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse and their websites on Friday.

Several hundred customers were waiting outside the Apple store on London’s Regent Street before the doors opened in a bid to get their hands on the new phone.

The phone’s features include a camera, an MP3 and video player, mobile phone and internet services such as email, text messaging, web browsing, visual voicemail and wireless connectivity.

The iPhone handsets went on sale in the US on June 29.