Apple will restrict the European launch of its multi-purpose iPhone to only Britain, France and Germany this year before a roll-out across Europe and Asia in 2008, the agency said on Thursday.
O2, the British unit of Spanish telecommunications group Telefonica, is set to be the first European mobile phone operator to reach a deal with Apple, which launched its innovative iPhone in the US last week, the agency added. O2 is close to securing a deal to be the sole network partner for the iPhone in Britain, said the business daily, citing “people familiar with the matter.” The company told the agency that it has “not signed a deal with Apple,” while Apple declined to comment, the agency noted.
Newspapers reports, some of which tipped France Telecom’s Orange as close to securing a similar deal in France and which followed a German newspaper article on Wednesday that Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile was set to win a German contract, weighed on European market leader Vodafone’s shares. Shares in Vodafone Group, which jumped last week partly on hopes the group would secure an exclusive, pan-European iPhone deal, slipped by more than 1%. Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom traded broadly flat in a weaker European telecoms market.
“Although it would make a great deal of sense for Apple to go with Vodafone, it doesn’t really fit with Vodafone’s emphasis on their own music content and portal,” said Carolina Milanesi, telecoms analyst at Gartner. She added that Vodafone tended to take power away from mobile phone manufacturers in handset deals, while “Apple dictates conditions” Vodafone declined to comment. O2 has stood out in the industry for playing down high-speed, third-generation (3G) services. This strategy would fit with iPhones, which look set to run over slower 2.5G networks, possibly until March 2008, analysts say.
O2 has the most customers in Britain, T-Mobile has top spot in Germany and Orange leads in France. The agency said the European iPhone will operate on slower 2.5 generation mobile networks, not the 3G infrastructure of companies such as Vodafone. The iPhone, one of the most eagerly awaited devices in years, went on sale in the US last Friday. The slim, pocket-sized machine from the innovative Apple computer company merges mobile telephone, internet browsing, e-mail, text messaging, music and video replay into one device.
Source : ET
Apple may launch iPhone only in 3 European nations
Re: Apple may launch iPhone only in 3 European nations
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