O2 has Wigan-sized iPhone problem
Exclusive Everyone wants a Wii or an Eee this Christmas. They're the hottest technology items in town, but there's none to be found for love nor money. If you want an iPhone, however, supplies remain plentiful. — Reliable channel sources tell us …
Context & Ripple Effects
O2's UK iPhone story has moved fast since July, when it emerged as the winner of Apple's exclusive UK iPhone contract. Two weeks ago the operator said it had sold 'tens of thousands' of handsets over launch weekend (per the Guardian), but scepticism was already building — Dial-a-Phone reported on 10 November that the much-hyped store queues were thinner than claimed.
Now The Register's channel sources say the opposite of a shortage: while Wiis and Eee PCs vanish from shelves this Christmas, iPhone stock at O2 is reportedly plentiful — a 'Wigan-sized' pile of it. That is a rumour-level claim about inventory rather than a confirmed sales figure, but if accurate it reframes the launch numbers: the question shifts from how fast iPhones sold to how fast they keep selling.
First-order effects
- O2 bears the inventory risk directly: under its exclusive deal — which includes giving Apple a share of call revenues — unsold handsets cost the carrier twice, once in stock and once in the traffic commitment attached to each unit.
Second-order effects
- If shelves stay full through December, expect discounting or aggressive bundle pushes by O2 and high-street channels to move units, undercutting the scarcity positioning that carried the US launch.
Third-order effects
- The episode illustrates the structural trade in carrier-exclusivity deals: Apple transfers demand risk to the operator, and the first European exclusives — O2 in the UK alongside T-Mobile in Germany and Orange in France — will show whether that bargain holds when the halo wears off.
The trend: Carrier-exclusive smartphone launches are shifting inventory and demand risk from handset maker to network operator, with O2's UK stockpile an early test case.