back to article O2 sales dip 9% as tight-fisted Brits cling to their old handsets

Sales at O2 UK fell by 8.9 per cent to €3.46bn (£2.91bn) for the first half of the year, as customers opted to hang on to their old handsets rather than upgrade. Sales for the quarter fell even further by 12.3 per cent year-on-year to €1.71bn (£1.4bn). However, Philip Carse, an analyst at Megabuyte, notes that, given the weak …

  1. eJ2095

    Well

    I don't really need a new device every 2 years that does the same as the old device...

    Soon we will all be getting 3-4 year contracts....

    1. StephenD

      Re: Well

      Contracts longer than 2 years are banned by Ofcom, implementing the EU Electronic Communications Framework. (Of course, rules might change.)

  2. alain williams Silver badge

    What is wrong with an old handset ?

    If it does the job, why replace it ? I'll spend my cash somewhere else and send less to landfill. This strikes me as a win all round - except to those touting things not really needed.

    1. et tu, brute?

      Re: What is wrong with an old handset ?

      Was exactly my reaction to the article... unless they come up with a revolutionary design or software improvements, why would I upgrade? Just to get more useless bloatware?

      No thanks, what I have now does the job perfectly!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No Kidding

    What do they expect?

    1) The new shiny and the old shiny aren't that different/exciting

    2) Most people are feeling the pinch financially and a new phone is a luxury

    3) I know a lot of people have put off non-essential purchases after Brexit. People aren't spending

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

      Re: No Kidding

      3) applies to me. Just not buying anything at the moment.

      Well, apart from my car insurance. For some reason it has gone up by more than 25%. No claims, no convictions. Time to find a new insurer.

      Apart from my Broadband

      Apart from my Mobile

      etc

      etc

      Well there goes my disposable income for the next three months.

  4. Richard Jones 1
    WTF?

    Two Years?

    My phone is almost into double digits, has a battery that 'only' lasts a couple of days but otherwise does exactly what I need. So far I have failed to find anything that will do what I need to replace its easy familiarity and task specific performance, hint, it does not have a touch screen, which I do not want anyway. Current phones are great for some people but not for all.

    1. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: Two Years?

      My phone is almost into double digits, has a battery that 'only' lasts a couple of days

      Well you can still get new batteries for Nokia 6310i's and there is a company who specialise in replacing the rubber buttons which have deteriorated over the years ...

  5. AMBxx Silver badge

    Capita

    I'd like to think this is due to moving customer support to Crapita. Probably not, but makes me happy. I'll be moving to a different company next month, though still on O2 network.

  6. Slx

    Don't worry!

    Now that you're leaving the EU you can allow a nice expensive and exploitive duopoly to reemerge.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I usually replace mine when the old one falls apart, the last one was replaced because it was so old I couldn't source a replacement battery

    1. Oldfogey
      Thumb Up

      So how "old" is Old?

      I've just repalced the battery in my wifes Nokia 1101. From a choice of supplies, and for a few quid delivered.

  8. StripeyMiata

    My wife and I got out of the "upgrade every 2 years" mindset a several years ago and looking back considering we both used to be on £30 a month contracts we have saved probably near to 2 grand.

    She currently uses a BlackBerry Z10 on GiffGaff at £5pm and I use a Phone Co-Op sim that usually costs me around £6pm. I recently bought a Silent Circle BlackPhone brand new unlocked from eBay for £49, they were £600 at launch but a bit of a flop.

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