Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Trolololol. So your "partner" is "on 3 too and I think he pays something like £6.90 a month as he only uses about 100 mins a month" and also owns a mobile network? I'd be surprised anyone who owns a mobile network actually still feels the inclination to be ripped off by the country's smallest network, let alone actually pay for a mobile service.

Anyhow, you realise mobile networks in the UK don't actually buy handsets direct right? Therefore even *they* don't know how much they cost originally. Only one or two networks have direct relationships with manufacturers and even then only with one or two manufacturers. The vast majority of networks' phones are bought through distributor networks, where the distributor takes care of sourcing the phones from manufacturers, delivering them to stores, and in some cases even fulfilling customer orders. Most networks do not do any of this themselves.

Incidentally you claim the iPhone 5 costs £103 to build yet professional analytic company iSuppli - a dedicated electronics research company - say the cheapest iPhone 5 costs $207, and that's before R&D, distribution costs, packaging, marketing, business, legal and contractual costs, and profit for everyone in the middle:

http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/iPhone5-Carries-$199-BOM-Virtual-Teardown-Reveals.aspx

So I suppose you now also own an electronics design research outfit whose primary purpose is to take phones apart to find out how much they cost, and you happen to do it better than the existing market leaders?

I may not know everything but I sure as hell know a professional electronics market intelligence company likely has more of a clue about its business than some randomer on a forum claiming their "partner" "owns a mobile network" and likes getting ripped off on his mobile phone (after all, he pays £6.90 a month £3 of service) (presumably because their own mobile network is too poor to provide the basic service required?). Clearly not the thriftiest of partners then.

Keep the crap coming.