UK iPhone selling out, no more revenue-sharing?

 Last week’s price cut on the 8GB iPhone has paid off with multiple reports of stock running dry as UK consumers run to purchase on of the Apple mobiles, and further suggestions Apple may be preparing to abandon its revenue-sharing model for iPhone sales.

Success has its cost: Mobile Today informs that both O2 and Carphone Warehouse sold out of the model within days of last week’s announcement. Apple continues to offer the model through its online store, but at the original £269 price, rather than the £169 its partners are offering the model for.

The report tells that stores in Newcastle, Birmingham and London claim to have already sold out of the 8GB model, with one Carphone Warehouse employee claiming sales had "doubled" since last week’s announcement. Stock in hand was expected to be refreshed over the weekend, though sales of the 16GB iPhone remain sluggish, suggesting Apple may be forced to permit its partners to implement a similar discount on that model, should the company not plan to maintain it as an option in its future iPhone range.

The move to discount the 8GB model has been seen as an attempt to boost sales of the device, which haven’t met expectations in Europe, and to clear stock for the anticipated debut of a 3G iPhone.

In related news, Italian newspaper La Repubblica today published a report claiming Apple plans to move away from revenue sharing model to adopt a subsidised open network approach. The first fruit of the new effort seems likely to be the non-exclusive release of the iPhone in Italy through Telecom Italia.