Orange laptop sales exceed expectations

Orange said last week early laptop sales had beaten expectations.

Orange's first laptop deal for consumers, a bundle including a 'free' Asus Eee PC (pictured) on two-year mobile broadband deals of £25 per month, launched in stores earlier this month.

It is the first of Orange's new 'connected' product line; a range of laptops bundled with USB modems on Internet Everywhere tariffs.

An Orange spokesman said: "It has gone down well. We've sold more than anticipated and early signs are very encouraging.

"The connected range is part of [Orange UK chief] Tom Alexander's agenda to improve the business. We want to evolve, and will do so by taking the range across the board and into stores."

Orange intends the connected range will evolve into a landline product with a wider range of laptops. The £25 Internet Everywhere tariff includes 3GB of UK data allowance and 100 texts from the laptop.

Laptop demo bays have been installed in 85 stores for customers to try out the product. The laptop range will expand to include Hewlett-Packard devices as well. Business tariffs will also be made available.