X

Orange sells 30,000 iPhones on first day: O2 says, 'Whatevs'

Orange has revealed it sold 30,000 iPhones on the first day the Apple wonder phone was sold by an operator that isn't O2

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
Richard Trenholm

Orange sold 30,000 iPhones on its first day selling the Apple phone. The figure was claimed as a record in a tweet by Conor Maples, a member of the Orange marketing team. He also trumpeted the success of the Orange Wednesdays iPhone app.

We contacted O2, but it refused to reveal sales figures in case share prices are affected. An O2 spokesman told us, "While we do not disclose sales figures for individual handsets, we can confirm that we sold considerably more than Orange are reporting on the day the iPhone 3GS went on sale," before adding, "We really did, honest!"

O2 also hit back at Orange with this Smash Hits-style list of iPhone 'facts': "Consumer interest in the 3G iPhone was four times more than interest in its 2G predecessor." Consumer interest? Really? Wowsers!

If you're undecided about which network to give your readies to, check out our detailed comparison of the deals, and don't forget our secret one-month iPhone contract. You may want to take into account, however, that it's the worst phone in the world.