Apple Inc (AAPL)

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NYTimes -
August Said to Be Target for New iPhone in Europe

By KEVIN J. O’BRIEN
Published: May 6, 2008
BERLIN — Apple plans to begin selling the long-awaited, faster 3G version of its best-selling iPhone by the August summer holidays in some European countries, a person close to the situation said, as part of an expanded introduction of the device to 10 countries that was announced Tuesday.
Apple, which since October has been selling a version of the iPhone that works on Europe’s ubiquitous but slower GSM networks in Austria, Britain, France, Germany and Ireland, plans to sell the 3G version in Italy through Vodafone and Telecom Italia, according to the person.
By selling the handset in Italy through two mobile operators, Vodafone and Telecom Italia TIM, Apple is modifying its strategy of selling the device exclusively through a single operator in each country, in exchange for a share of the data revenue that iPhone users pay to their mobile operators.
Vodafone, based in Newbury, England, is the world’s largest mobile operator, with 252 million customers. It said Tuesday that it would begin selling the iPhone in the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and Portugal in Europe, as well as in Australia, Egypt, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey, later this year.
In a separate statement Tuesday, Telecom Italia, whose TIM Telecom Italia Mobile wireless network is the Italian market leader, said it would sell the iPhone in Italy later this year. Apple announced last week that the iPhone, the fastest-selling handset in the United States, would go on sale this year in Canada.
According to the person, who declined to be identified because of a confidentiality agreement, Apple wants to start selling the 3G version of the iPhone in Europe before August, the time when most Europeans go on vacation and would presumably have a greater need for the device’s advanced Internet browser function.
An Apple spokesman in London, Alan Hely, confirmed the sales arrangements with Vodafone and Telecom Italia. But he declined to comment on details about the timing, types of handsets and price, and he would not comment on whether Vodafone had received an exclusive contract to sell the device in countries other than Italy.
Analysts in Europe estimate that sales of the iPhone in Europe have tapered off after its market debut last year, a trend some attribute to the device’s initial high price — as much as 499 euros, or $771, in Germany — and its limitations on the slower GSM networks. Apple, in its quarterly financial statements, only reports global sales of the device and has not released sales details on Europe to date