News
O2 defends iPhone deal
Stuart O'Brien Nov 9 2007, 9:45am
Comments (1)
O2 accuses rivals of sour grapes ahead of today's iPhone launch.
O2 has defended the revenue sharing deal it has with Apple for the iPhone, insisting that the agreement will be profitable.
A report in today's FT suggests O2's rivals Vodafone and Orange are still bitter that they lost out on the iPhone, with O2 apparently going above the 25 per cent revenue share they offered in order to clinch the deal.
That compares to the 15 per cent revenue agreement Apple is thought to have in place with its exclusive US operator partner AT&T, though other reports suggest the revenue share deals Apple has in place in both the US and Europe are anywhere between 20 per cent and 40 per cent.
Either way, O2 has defended itself vigoursly to suggestions that it will struggle to make the iPhone pay. O2 chief exec Matthew Key said: "Our track record in terms of how we run this business is we do not just do growth, we do profitable growth," going on, according to the FT, to acuse rivals of "sour grapes".
The iPhone goes on sale in the UK from 6pm this evening in O2 stores, Apple stores and the Carphone Warehouse.
Comments
“Mobile operators makijg huge profits”
Posted by: Tommy - Nov 9, 10:44am
The O2 CEO is absolutely correct that O2 will make a profit on the iPhone deal. But it also says a lot of how profitable the mobile operator business is, and that we as customers have been overcharged for too long time and it only seems to continue.