IPhone Hits UK Grocery Shelves At Tesco Chain

9:37 am, November 25th, 2009, Ed Sutherland

Tesco grocery shelf (credit: scorpions and centaurs/flickr)

When you go to the grocery store, pick me up a loaf of bread, some milk and an iPhone. That could soon be the refrain of UK shoppers as a deal between Apple and Tesco was announced Wednesday. The arrangement would put the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in around 100 Tesco Phone Shops throughout the UK.

The agreement with Tesco Mobile, a virtual network operator, and carrier O2 would provide the Apple handsets as pay-as-you-go phones.

The pact between Apple and Tesco, the world’s fourth-largest retailer, could be Cupertino’s first step to wider European iPhone distribution. In 2008, Apple agreed to sell its handset in the U.S.-based Walmart chain, the world’s largest retailer. Previously, the iPhone was distributed in electronics stores, like Best Buy. Apple may also be preparing to sell Macs through Walmart as the retail giant creates Apple-specific sections in some of its stores.

In another similarity, 02 – which previously had exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in the UK – must now compete with rivals Vodafone and Orange, also offering the popular smartphone. In the U.S., AT&T – which held an exclusive arrangement with Apple since the iPhone’s introduction – reportedly will lose that arrangement in July 2010, when Verizon and other U.S.-based carriers might also offer the phone.

[Via AppleInsider, Engadget and BBC]

Posted by Ed Sutherland in News | Comment on this article

About the author

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

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6 comments

If I was going to buy an iPhone on pre-pay for £350 or more, the last place I’d buy it from would be Tesco; Carphone Warehouse or O2 shop yes, Tesco, no…..

Horselover Fat, on November 25th, 2009 at 12:23 pm

I agree, no way would I spend nearly £400 on a phone from Tesco; I’ve recently had to return a clock radio, toaster, microwave and kettle because they were faulty; the thought of buying such a hi-tech piece of kit as an iPhone from Tesco is not something I would consider.

A Mad-Man In Love, on November 25th, 2009 at 2:11 pm

I really hope Wal-mart doesn’t carry Apple Macs! A phone is one thing, but a gorgeous iMac in Walmart….It might make Walmart look better, but not the iMac

TV, on November 25th, 2009 at 6:33 pm

Jesus, talk about snobbery; an iPhone bought from Tesco isn’t any more likely to break than one bought elsewhere, and it’s not going to have TESCO VALUE iPHONE printed on the back either.

Stu, on November 25th, 2009 at 7:45 pm

I noticed that Argos (UK catalogue store) are selling some Macs now (not the full range tho’). Not that they sell them at any kind of discount, more’s the pity. Does it really matter where you buy something? Surely the price is more important than the carrier bag?

Fen Tiger, on November 26th, 2009 at 4:05 am

If you buy a iPhone from Tesco’s and it becomes faulty do you return it to Tesco’s or Apple?
If there is no discount in price between Tesco and The Apple Store,why would you buy it from Tesco,does Tesco’s have a Genius Bar?

Poppa, on November 26th, 2009 at 11:01 am