According to Swedish technology newswire Ny Teknik, Apple will be introducing the iPhone in Sweden before summer. Its Swedish partner operator will most likely be TeliaSonera, the largest national service provider, which runs on an EDGE network just like Apple’s other European partners, O2 and T-Mobile.
The iPhone started selling in Europe last fall. So far it’s officially available in France, England, Germany, Austria, and Ireland, where it was introduced less than a month ago. Demand has been strongest in England, where the exclusive service provider, O2, sold 30,000 handsets in just the first week. Total sales of 200,000 were recorded at the end of January. French sales have been just okay, reaching a total of 70,000 phones by the beginning of 2008, close to predictions by French iPhone operator Orange, according to Apple.
Germany, however, has been a very weak iPhone market so far. The number of phones sold are about the same as in France, despite the fact that Germany is a much bigger market. The exclusive provider, T-Mobile, just announced a huge price reduction to $155 from $625 for the 8 gigabyte iPhone. Buyers have to agree to a two-year monthly subscription fee of $140 per month — almost as much as the phone itself. The question is whether this will spur sales or remain so expensive that it estranges Apple’s handsets from serious European consumer consideration.
One third of the iPhones sold in Europe are unlocked after purchase, according to Ny Teknik. Still, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is holding on to the initial strategy of one single partner per country. Why so stubborn, Jobs? Of course it’s tempting to copy the revenue model the company has in the US with AT&T, where Apple gets $80 for every phone sold plus an additional $10 per month from subscription fees for two years. However, if that strategy leads to a growing number of iPhones being unlocked and used with other operators, the returns are going to shrink significantly for Apple down the road. (Source: VentureBeat)