Cut-price iPhone "almost" out of stock in 48 hours; 4.5-inch iPhone to come?

Slashing the price of the iPhone by £100 on Wednesday could have been one of the better decisions O2 and Carphone Warehouse took in their plans to clear out their stock of 8GB iPhones before the 3G version arrives.

According to Mobile Today, O2 stores in Newscatle, London and Birmingham have sold out their 8GB iPhone stocks 48 hours after the iPhone price cut was announced.

Tight stock volumes means that even second hand iPhones still fetch a premium; Computer Exchange for example buys locked iPhone at £180 and sells them at £250.

The iPhone is still on sale at £269 at Apple's Stores, both online and on high street, which means that O2 is temporarily subsidising the device, at least till the 1st of June.

Orange, in France, has yet to cut the price of its iPhone after O2 and T-Mobile's move.

Times Online revealed last week that Apple will have around 3 million 3G iPhones stocked and ready for sale when Steve Jobs will announce it at the WorldWide Developer Convention in June.

Another source told the Online newspaper that the iPhone could have a radically different appearance including a bigger 4.5-inch screen to match.