‘iPhone price cuts needed to compete in business market’

Experts say that Apple will have to cut the cost of an iPhone if it is to successfully take on BlackBerry in the b2b market.

Tom Byrd of CCS Insight said: ‘The big worry for BlackBerry is Apple can now take it on head-to-head.’ But Byrd said he thought the lure of a free handset from BlackBerry could prove too much to resist for most consumers: ‘Apple won’t take BlackBerry on until the price point comes down. Until Apple brings out something along the lines of the iPhone Nano, it won’t have a huge impact.’

Although the £269 price tag for the iPhone remains in place, O2 has recently moved to bolster sales with an improved tariff, tripling the minutes and doubling the texts on £35-per-month deals.