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Waiting for Applemania in Germany

Paper Reports T-Mobile Landing iPhone Deal

German mobile phone giant T-Mobile is reported to have secured the exclusive deal to market the iPhone here. The cult phone, on sale in the US since Friday, is expected to go on sale in Germany in November.

People waited in lines for days in New York, Washington and San Francisco to get their hands on it. And within a week, as many as 700,000 iPhones have changed hands in the United States.

But iMania is soon to cross the Atlantic, with German gadget freaks already anticipating the phone's autumn debut. Now a newspaper is reporting that T-Mobile has secured the exclusive marketing rights to Steve Jobs' 'Next Big Thing' in Germany.

The deal, reported by the Rheinishe Post newspaper and citing T-Mobile sources, has taken many by surprise, as Vodaphone had previously been regarded as the frontrunner in the bidding.

The iPhone is expected to go on sale in Germany on Nov. 1 with a €450 ($612) price tag. As in the US, where iPhone is being sold by AT&T, buyers in Germany would be required to purchase a long-term mobile services contract with T-Mobile.

T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, refused a request by SPIEGEL ONLINE, to comment on the reported deal. "It is a rumor and we do not comment on rumors, a spokesperson said. And on Wednesday, there was some uncertainty about the deal. The business daily Handelsblatt also reported T-Mobile sources providing contradictory information, saying the deal had not yet been secured.

Though the German market may now be tied up, Apple is continuing with negotiations with other firms across Europe. T-Mobile is strong in Eastern Europe, but Vodaphone dominates in parts of Western Europe, especially in France. There is even speculation that in some European countries Apple could move away from the single iPhone partner model it is using in the US and Germany in order to work with multiple network providers, including T-Mobile, Vodaphone and Carphone Warehouse.

The iPhone combines the functions of a telephone, iPod music player and pocket computer. It's sleek look and innovative keyboardless, touch-screen display has made it a fetish object among the design conscious. In the US, it is being sold in about 2,000 stores, including Apple's own network of retail outlets and those belonging to AT&T. Analysts believe Apple and AT&T could move as many as 3 million units during the next three quarters, securing revenues of €1.4 billion.

The market research group iSuppli has reported that the profit margin on the most expensive iPhone model could be greater than 55 percent. The group estimates that production costs of the $600 model run at $265. The report's release prompted Apple shares to rise nearly 5 percent on Tuesday.

Apple introduced the eagerly anticipated iPhone, with a sophisticated Web browser that has earned almost universal acclaim, on Friday. The question analysts are asking, however, is whether the iPhone can succeed in the long term in the fiercly competitive mobile phone market. Apple has modest ambitions: It wants to move 10 million units by the end of 2008, which would represent only 1 percent of the entire mobile phone market.

dsl/dpa/Reuters