By Stevie Smith Sep 21, 2007, 13:50 GMT
Gathering regional iPhone provider speculation has once again become tangible fact following the announcement that telecommunications company Orange has been officially confirmed as the exclusive carrier for Apple’s smartphone in France.
Orange chief executive officer Didier Lombard revealed the French exclusivity deal yesterday during an industry event in Vietnam, and also said that the diminutively sleek handsets would by ready for retail by the close of November this year, reports the Reuters news agency.
France Telecom – parent company of Orange – has expressed its belief that the capture of the iPhone for the French market will certainly bolster its sales throughout the country considering the appeal of an Apple-branded device that bundles telephony functionality with touch-screen technology, iTunes Store compatibility, an onboard video/media player, and a Web browser too.
As with the other European deals also confirmed this week, iPhone consumers in France will have to pay a set amount for the initial hardware along with a fixed term contract with Orange. At this time, Orange is yet to confirm the iPhone’s hardware and contractual prices.
The news of Orange’s positioning to cover the French market completes the iPhone’s carrier placement for Europe’s three biggest regions, with Spain’s Telefonica O2 being confirmed this week for the UK, along with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile for Germany.
The UK price for the iPhone is 269 GBP for the handset plus an 18-month O2 contract package that starts at 35 GBP per month (rising as high as 55 GBP) and equates to a total minimum financial outlay of 899 GBP.
Although the iPhone is certainly a success in North America, where it launched in June of this year and has already passed 1 million unit sales, it remains to be seen whether European consumers will be willing to embrace a device that doesn’t run on the extremely speedy and popular 3G networks. Unlike Europe, 3G is not currently available in the US and, as such, has not adversely affected the handset’s performance appeal there.
With regard to the lack of 3G, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has said the iPhone doesn’t run on 3G seeing as the network would apply undue strain on the device’s internal battery – a component of the product already receiving a degree of criticism from users in terms of its charge life.
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AlexisSep 3rd, 2008 - 01:56:21
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