Reuters: T-Mobile lands exclusive iPhone deal for Germany

[AppleInsider]

Deutsche Telekom's mobile communications unit T-Mobile has clinched an exclusive deal with Apple to sell the coveted iPhone in Germany, according to Reuters.

Citing an industry source, the media outlet reports that the agreement -- to be announced next week -- will see the Apple handset sold through Deutsche Telekom's retail outlets in Germany at an initial price of 399 euros ($554).

As part of the deal, Deutsche Telekom has reportedly agreed to share voice and data revenues generated by the phones with Apple. The deal also means that Vodafone, once expected to be the frontrunner for an exclusive, pan-European agreement with Apple, has missed out.

Apple has scheduled a London news conference for next Tuesday but has declined to give details.

An Apple spokesman in Germany has said only that the company would announce which telecoms operators had won the sales deal by the end of September.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[MacTel]

Yeah, too T-Mobile in the U.S. didn't get a chance at the iPhone. The coverage isn't as good as AT&T and they don't have a real 3G plan in the works. They seemed more focused on using WiFi for a 3G experience.

[SpamSandwich]

I foresee a huge underground market for hacked iPhones being sold in the US for Germany...

[daniel.houghton604@wku.edu]

Originally Posted by MacTel

Yeah, too T-Mobile in the U.S. didn't get a chance at the iPhone. The coverage isn't as good as AT&T and they don't have a real 3G plan in the works. They seemed more focused on using WiFi for a 3G experience.

so what are the chances that T-mobile customers in America will be able to get their hands on an i phone without hacking it like we can now?? Will t-mobile offer the I phone in the USA?

[freelander51]

When is AAPL going to treat its european customers with some more respect. In the US the phone sells for 399$, over here 554$. That is a hefty 25% markup. I could live with the markup if we were to get the products AT THE SAME TIME.

The same applies to other products and categories : if you look at the iTMS in Belgium and compare it to (say) the US, you would think that us people living in Belgium still walk around with wooden clubs in order to put food on the table and that electricity is only sporadic (when the sun shines which it does not very often).

Shameful very shameful

[Gizmo-xl]

Originally Posted by freelander51

When is AAPL going to treat its european customers with some more respect. In the US the phone sells for 399$, over here 554$. That is a hefty 25% markup. I could live with the markup if we were to get the products AT THE SAME TIME.

The same applies to other products and categories : if you look at the iTMS in Belgium and compare it to (say) the US, you would think that us people living in Belgium still walk around with wooden clubs in order to put food on the table and that electricity is only sporadic (when the sun shines which it does not very often).

Shameful very shameful

Just wait another 60 days after release and maybe it will come down 33%..... like it did in the USA.

[SpamSandwich]

Lawl!

[aegisdesign]

As I pointed out earlier...

iPod Touch 16GB is $399 or €399 so the iPhone being the same dollar<>euro price isn't unprecedented. The European price includes VAT though which in Germany is 19%. (ie. it's €335 before tax)

Therefore the 25% markup isn't so bad as it first seems.

I suspect also it'll be £269 in the UK (£229 before tax), same as the iPod Touch instead of £198, the dollar equivalent.

So we're only be ripped off about £30/$60 in the UK and Germany before tax compared with the US. That's a fairly low level of rip off for Apple.

[razorpit]

Wait until we get our 3G, 16GB version then we can do an Apple to Apple* comparison.

*Pun intended :-)

[Titan10]

Originally Posted by aegisdesign

As I pointed out earlier...

iPod Touch 16GB is $399 or €399 so the iPhone being the same dollar<>euro price isn't unprecedented.

Unprecedented does not mean it is fair.

The European price includes VAT though which in Germany is 19%.

Therefore the 25% markup isn't so bad as it first seems.

The the Dollar/Euro exchange rate is 1.3874 today Sat 15 Sept.

So Apple is adding 13.74 % to the price, for the very same product. Unless in Europe the iPhone will be a 3G model.

Apple should not be surprised by the small market share in Europe.
Apple is really focused on one single market: the United States.

[freelander51]

Apple is really focused on one single market: the United States.

Hmmmm. Europe might be fragmented - but last time I checked (and I live in Brussels) Europe is a single market with 450 Mio inhabitants. The Eurozone alone has more inhabitants then the US.

[Electric Monk]

Originally Posted by freelander51

Hmmmm. Europe might be fragmented - but last time I checked (and I live in Brussels) Europe is a single market with 450 Mio inhabitants. The Eurozone alone has more inhabitants then the US.

He's right though, Apple does (IIRC) about 60% of their business in the US alone, with most of the rest split between Japan and Europe (with Europe, more heavily in the UK than elsewhere).

Should Apple be doing a lot more in Europe & Japan? Yep. They aren't though, so his statement that Apple is focused on the States is dead on.

[rnaoncfixd]

Originally Posted by razorpit

Wait until we get our 3G, 16GB version then we can do an Apple to Apple* comparison.

*Pun intended :-)

I think my funny bone just died a little inside.

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by Electric Monk

Should Apple be doing a lot more in Europe & Japan? Yep. They aren't though, so his statement that Apple is focused on the States is dead on.

It does seem that way a lot of the time.

For example, customers in Japan have been screaming for a subnotebook for ages now, and Apple still hasn't given them one. One can only hope that there's a really nice one with MultiTouch on the way.

.

[physguy]

Originally Posted by freelander51

Hmmmm. Europe might be fragmented - but last time I checked (and I live in Brussels) Europe is a single market with 450 Mio inhabitants. The Eurozone alone has more inhabitants then the US.

Tell that to the record companies and the import processes and the tax authorities and the health care regulations, etc. ,etc., etc. We export to Europe. If we ship to Germany we have to pay VAT (~16% which we do get back 60-90 days later but quite a cash-flow hit). On the other hand we ship to Amsterdam and then truck to Germany, no tax. It's far from unified.

[freelander51]

Originally Posted by physguy

Tell that to the record companies and the import processes and the tax authorities and the health care regulations, etc. ,etc., etc. We export to Europe. If we ship to Germany we have to pay VAT (~16% which we do get back 60-90 days later but quite a cash-flow hit). On the other hand we ship to Amsterdam and then truck to Germany, no tax. It's far from unified.

Europe is not unified, although the processes are streamlined. But neither is the US. There you have sales tax that varies from state to state as well and the VAT is nothing other then some sort of sales tax. Its an indirect tax - levied on purchases or sales. Sales Tax in short. So if you can handle NV, FL and NY then you should be able to handle UK, NL and DE. OK the forms are different I give you that.

But if you export straight from the US to Germany you only have to pay VAT on your sales, but can offset that on the VAT for services purchased. If you ship to Amsterdam and then truck to Germany and no VAT is charged anywhere then your accountant is doing sth wrong

Unless you sell to a Dutch distributor who in turn sells into Germany. The Dutch distributor would have to pay the VAT for the import though. Same applies if I purchase from the US. I pay customs AND VAT on my purchase.

And what about the health care regulations - 99.9% of all Germans (and Dutch, Belgians, etc.) do have access to health care. I personally think that that is quite good.

Plus in AAPL's case - its not exactly that they are NOT present already and have to discover uncharted territory. If AAPL charges a markup for Europe (and 1 Euro is NOT 1 $, but 0.66 cent) then deliver sooner. Normally you pay a premium to get sth FIRST - not second.