Apple Inc will sell the iPhone in the UK with mobile-service provider O2 Plc, the first step by Apple chief executive officer Steve Jobs to capture a share of the mobile-phone market outside the US.
The 8-gigabyte handset will go on sale in the UK on Nov. 9 at a price of ?269 (US$536), Jobs said at an event in London yesterday. O2 is owned by Madrid-based Telefonica SA, Europe's second-largest telephone company.
Carphone Warehouse Plc, Europe's largest handset retailer, will sell the telephone in partnership with O2, the companies said.
The agreement gives Apple its first overseas partner for the iPhone, which went on sale in the US in June. Jobs has forecast sales of 10 million iPhones for next year, which would give Apple a 1 percent share of the global market. The UK is Europe's second largest mobile-phone market behind Germany.
"For the iPhone to be a success, it needs to be a hit in Europe," said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co in Minneapolis. "The good news is Europeans are willing to spend money on phones." He estimates that half of iPhones will be sold outside the US in 2009.
Apple shares fell US$0.40 to US$138.41 yesterday in NASDAQ Stock market trading.
Jobs slashed the iPhone price by US$200 this month to spur sales during the holidays, a period that typically accounts for about a third of Apple's sales.
As of Sept. 10, Apple had sold more than 1 million iPhones. Customers must sign a two-year contract with AT&T, the largest mobile-phone provider in the US.
Mobile-phone sales are expected to reach 178 million units this year in the 16 countries of western Europe, about the same that will be sold in the US, said Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner Inc, a market researcher in Stamford, Connecticut.
Germany is the largest market, followed by the UK, Italy, France and Spain, she said. In Germany, T-Mobile is the biggest wireless operator, with 34.3 million users. O2 is the largest in the UK, with 17.8 million users and in France, Orange has the most, with 23.4 million.
Nokia Oyj, Motorola Inc and Samsung Electronics Co were the top three mobile-phone makers in the second quarter, accounting for about two-thirds of all handsets sold worldwide, Gartner said. Mobile phone sales in western Europe rose 11 percent to 45.4 million units in the period, compared with a 7 percent jump to 41.4 million phones in North America, Gartner said.
For O2, the deal with Apple will help it add and retain customers who may be willing to spend more money on data, music and other features.
The phone will be sold at 1,300 Carphone Warehouse and O2 stores in the UK, said Matthew Key, chief executive of O2 in the UK.
"The reason the carriers want the iPhone is because it is the most talked-about new phone," Milanesi said in an interview. "It's about getting new customers."
For Newbury, England-based Vodafone Group Plc, the world's largest wireless provider, the deals may hurt the company's ability to pick up some new customers but "Vodafone thought maybe at the end of the day, it's not really worth it," Milanesi said.
Vodafone chief executive officer Arun Sarin told reporters in July that the company was looking forward to a faster, 3G mobile phone from Apple.
Apple's success depends on convincing European customers, who are accustomed to flexible, short-term and pay-as-you-go pricing plans, that the iPhone is an attractive choice.
"In every country, there's going to be that group of people who will buy anything with an Apple on it," said Todd Dagres, a general partner at venture firm Spark Capital in Boston. "But their success will depend on pricing, how flexible the pricing is and the features."
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS