Android Makes Up One-Fifth Of T-Mobile U.K. Contracts

The Android has been a vital phone for T-Mobile UK in the last year, as the company releases its figures for 2008.

The G1 Android phone, still the only one on the market to use Google’s Android software, was a big boost for T-Mobile UK in 2008. It now accounts for 20% of all the company’s contract sales, according to the 2008 financial figures issued by T-Mobile. The company began exclusively offering the G1 in October.

In a statement, Jim Hyde, T-Mobile UK’s chief executive, said:

"The successful launch of the Android-based G1 in October and the ongoing demand for mobile broadband services had a positive impact on the latter half of 2008."

T-Mobile reported a 3% overall year-on-year drop in its customer base, down to 16.8 million, according to ZDNet, while there was also a 5.2% fall in pre-pay customers, down to 12.7 million. On the upside, and largely due to the Android, contract customer were up by 4.5% to 4 million. The company’s mobile broadband device sales reported the biggest jump, with a year-on-year increase of 250%.