O2 cuts iPhone prices

As of tomorrow, Apple fans will be able to get their hands on an iPhone for £100 less than current prices.

O2, Apple’s UK iPhone reseller, has announced that from 16 April until 1 June, customers would be able to purchase the 8GB model for £169, a sizeable reduction from the previous £269 price tag. Customers will still be tied into a minimum tariff of £35 per month for 18 months, however, while the 16GB iPhone will remain priced at £329.

According to the mobile operator, the price cut “will create additional momentum for what has been O2’s fastest-selling device”. It added, “With the highest customer satisfaction of any device on O2 and unparalleled mobile web access, the iPhone offers the best mobile experience in the market.”

Coupled with better support for enterprise customers, the lower price tag could see more business uptake of the iPhone, an objective Apple is clearly aiming at.

In March, the vendor released a beta version of its iPhone 2.0 software, which features support for Microsoft’s ActiveSync protocol to enable secure push email access for Exchange users – a must-have for many corporate mobile users. The forthcoming release also offers a software development kit, providing a set of APIs for creating new iPhone applications.

The version 2.0 software will be made available as a free update to all iPhone customers by the end of June, according to Apple.