Apple's iPhone Heads for Europe

With Apple's (AAPL) self-imposed deadline of Sept. 30 rapidly approaching and a mysterious press event scheduled for Tuesday Sept. 18 in London, the rumor sites have fallen into line and concluded that Steve Jobs is finally set to unveil his plans for rolling out the iPhone across the pond, as CFO Peter Oppenheimer promised last July.

For the phones themselves, Europeans will have to wait a little longer -- probably until November.

Much of what Apple will announce in the next two weeks is hardly a secret anymore. FT Deutschland reported in August that the company had signed contracts with three European cellular network operators -- T-Mobile in Germany, Orange in France and O2 in the UK -- that included a 10% kickback to Apple on revenue collected from iPhone calls and data transfers.

Since then reports have surfaced almost daily to flesh out the details, including the image at left that purports to be an ad for a 16 GB German iPhone priced at 499 euros ($692). The ad may well be a fake, but the price corresponds with the most authoritative rumor to date, Reuters' report on Friday that Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile unit will sell the iPhone in Germany for an initial price of 399 euros ($554). Presumably that's the price for an 8GB model.

Although Reuters' source predicted that the T-Mobile deal would be announced this coming week, Apple has not yet issued press invitations in Germany. The event in London -- cryptically entitled "Mum is no longer the word" --  is to be held at 10 a.m. local time at the Apple store on Regent Street, a surprisingly modest venue for what most observers expect will be the O2 announcement. The Apple Expo in Paris, which runs from September 25 to 29, would seem a more propitious time for Steve Jobs to share his iPhones plans for Continental Europe.

The only suspense left may be when the phones start shipping and whether they will sell. Peter Oppenheimer in July said only that Apple was on track to start shipping iPhones to Europe before the end of the year, which hasn't stopped the rumor sites from putting their chips on earlier dates. On Friday Think Secret cited "fresh information" suggesting that the phone would arrive in the U.K. during the week of November 12, in France "around November 29" and in Germany "some time in November."

If the German advertisement is to be believed, Europeans could see 16 GB iPhones before Americans do. Early speculation that the new devices would run on Europe's 3G networks has largely been dismissed, leading some analysts to suggest that a 2.5G iPhone might be received by cellphone sophisticates on the Continent with a yawn. But the eagerness with which Apple enthusiasts abroad have been snapping up iUnlock and other programs that free the phone to work in Europe suggest that there might be quite a bit of pent-up demand.

Comments

[bk]

I can't wait! Based on Steve Jobs last two Special Event Days and his negative suprises, the stock should drop when Apple starts to make whatever secret announcement they have.......

[mymac]

It is a real FAKE
http://www.mymac.cc/?p=412

[Jim]

More mistakes as usual:

---------------------------------------------
>>>Since then reports have surfaced almost daily to flesh out the details>>"Mum is no longer the world"<<<

Did you wanted to say "Mum is no longer the word"?

---------------------------------------------

My offer still stands, I'll proof read your articles for you before you post. That way at the least your spelling will be correct, even though your articles suck.

[Jim]

>>>Since then reports have surfaced almost daily to flesh out the details<<<

Did you mean to say "flush out the details"?

[decastroharry]

the stock will go 150$ for sure europe has the i-phone and i must say the europeans are more sophisticated when it comes to european culture....the i-phone is revolutionary in thier countrys....now the market for apple is europe and watch the profits begin to rain in as LEOPARD apples new software also will hit the markets ....

[MacManMaz]

Misleading headline.

This article is really nothing at all new. Just re-writing what everyone already knows. pretty sweet way to make a living, but it won't last long if you don't start putting some substance into it. Good Luck.

I for one will not bother reading them anymore.

Bye.

[Juan MoTime]

AAPL--->>>>>$210.00

Wishers---->>>>Still all zeroes

[Tycho]

Did you mean to say "flush out the details"?

No, he didn't.

"Flesh out the details" is correct. Don't expect to be hired as proofreader.

[Jim]

>>>Don't expect to be hired as proofreader.<<<

Ah, come on! If Elmer Fudd can copy and paste someone else's writing and gets paid for it, I want to come on board as a proofreader.

This is a sweet deal.

Stay at home, surf for few minutes(bookmarked sites), copy and paste someone else's article to your blog site and get paid!!!

What a GIG!

[jim]

The editor of Apple 2.0 does a nice job.

As to you: if you want to paint yourself as a pompous, self-righteous moron who doesn't know the difference between keeping your mouth shut and offering piss-ant/unwanted/erroneous advice, you should go, or go back, to college...where sophmoric antics at least have some amusement value around the dorm.

Further, you should also invest all your limited funds in Microsoft and hope for the best...

Good luck with that!

[bob]

HEY GUYS --

Philip Elmer DeWitt is paid to write bad stories about Apple.

Do you want proof? Here it is.

This blog is owned by Time Warner.

According to Reuters News, Time Warner and Microsoft are partners in hulu.com, a so-called "iTunes killer."

This means that Philip's bosses are in direct competition against Apple and stand to lose a lot of money and prestige if hulu.com cannot defeat Apple's iTunes.

So, Philip, answer these charges. The last time we entered a comment like this, you deleted it. Do you have the guts to issue a disclaimer?

Do you have the guts to say, at the beginning of this blog, that your bosses are in direct competition with Apple Inc. And that your opinion is clearly suspect?

I seriously doubt it.

In all seriousness: Hulu.com is launching soon. I challenge you, Philip, to write a story about hulu.com and put it up head to head against iTunes for a fair comparison.

Somehow, I don't think you have the guts.

ex ped: The last time you entered a comment like this it was riddled with obscenities, which is why it was deleted.

And your "proof" is ridiculous. Time Warner doesn't compete with Apple. It competes much more directly with with NBC and Fox, which own hulu.com. --Philip Elmer-DeWitt