'iPhone only viable handset for us'

iPhone the only viable handset for GiffGaff
Something for the future perhaps?

The iPhone would be the only financially viable handset for sim-only mobile network GiffGaff if it was to offer phones along with its goodybag tariffs.

Budget-focussed companies such as GiffGaff have not found it possible to offer handsets with tariffs at such low prices thus far, standing the SIM-only providers apart from their high-street counterparts.

Speaking to TechRadar, GiffGaff's CEO Mike Fairman said: "the reason GiffGaff don't do handsets is that they are expensive.

"Bizarrely the one handset we could sell and not lose money on is an iPhone."

Come again?

Yes, that's right: the high-end Apple iPhone would be the only financially viable option for GiffGaff, thanks to the high demand for the handset that would offset the cost of stocking.

Although GiffGaff is content with the market it is currently chasing Fairman clearly states the "never say never" attitude when it comes to the potential of selling handsets in the future.

O2 owned GiffGaff (which is Scottish for 'mutual giving') is going from strength to strength after its launch in June 2010 and witnessed customer numbers increase seven-fold in 2011.

Its recent add-on of BlackBerry support has seen it gain more users and it will be rolling out official microSIM support in the near future.

Are you on GiffGaff? Let us know your thoughts on the network and if you want to see it offer handsets as well as sim deals.

John McCann
Former Global Managing Editor

TechRadar's former Global Managing Editor, John has been a technology journalist for more than a decade, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He’s interviewed CEOs from some of the world’s biggest tech firms, visited their HQs, and appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC, and BBC Radio 4.

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