BBC did not pay full retail price on the Apple products as they reportedly got a fair discount because of the volume of their orders for Apple products. Even with the discounts BBC still ended up paying a lot especially considering that it had to renew mobile phone contracts with mobile operator O2. Not only this but BBC paid at least a couple of thousand dollars to train its employees to used the new devices.
Critics and analysts claim that there are hidden reasons behind this huge deal. Presenters were often seen flashing their smartphones or tablets on screen. It has been reported that even people working at BBC on jobs that did not require them to have a smartphone or tablet got one. A BBC spokesman attacked this rumour and said that these devices were issued only to people that required the devices. Truth be told BBC could have looked for cheaper alternatives instead of buying pricey gadgets for most of its staff.
