Cellnet’s aggressive marketing campaign for its new cut-price mobile phone appears to have backfired, according to a leading supermarket chain which stocks the handsets.
Supplies of what has proved to be one of the festive season’s most popular gifts are disappearing faster than they can be replaced, and the waiting lists are growing.
The new U phone is aimed at young adults and eliminates the need to pay monthly bills. Phone-calls are paid for in advance.
Pre-paid phones are the main battleground in the war to sign up new mobile phone users this Christmas.
Cellnet says it will make a quarter of the estimated 1m new connections made by operators in the final quarter of the year.
Three in every four phones sold this Christmas are expected to be pre-paid.
Asda, the supermaket store which agreed a deal with Cellnet last month to sell the phones, is now talking to One-2-One about getting more supplies for Christmas.
Asda says there is a waiting list of between 50 and 60 customers in many of its shops for the pre-paid phone service.
A spokesman for the supermarket chain said: “The demand for these phones is very high everywhere. We run out of stocks every week and we only get one delivery a week. It is undoubtedly the gift of the season and we could be selling a lot more. We are talking to One-2-One and negotiating a price for the phone. We will reach a decision within the next few days.”
Cellnet blames the shortfall on unprecedented demand after a massive marketing campaign for the U phone.
Damien Peachey of Cellnet said: “We expect to make 250,000 new connections in the three months up to Christmas, but due to the demand we have experienced a short-term shortage.
“If Asda starts to sell One-2-One phones, it will be better for consumer choice.”