11.28.07 - 03:29pm
Three weeks after Germany and the UK got the iPhone, France finally is able to join the confederation with the launch of the iPhone via Orange.
Orange rolled out the iPhone to hundreds of enthusiastic buyers who had lined up outside of stores in 12 cities across the country that were authorized to sell the iPhone in a sort of pre-sale. The iPhone goes on sale nationwide throughout France tomorrow.
Orange is expecting their users to grow due to the iPhone’s popularity by half a million in the first year. They are hoping to sell 100,000 units by years end. Orange is offering the iPhone locked for $593 and unlocked for $965. They must sell the phone unlocked in order to comply with French law.
Orange said that approximately 63,000 people had asked for information on the iPhone via e-mail.
Category: iPhone | Tags: apple, france, iPhone, orange | Be the First to Comment »
10.19.07 - 11:26am
Apple may have changed the cell phone devices themselves by upgrading the regular cell phone from buttons to touch, but it also changed the cell phone industry by taking money for each phone activated through an exclusive cell phone network.
‘For operators, having an handset maker suddenly demand a slice of their revenues is like being asked to change your religion,’ said Gerry Collins, the director of strategic marketing at Nortel Networks, a Canadian company that makes wireless phone networks. “This is really a significant change for the industry.
Apple has signed exclusive deals in several different countries outside the U.S. to market the iPhone and take a portion of the mobile operating markets. They weren’t able to accomplish this in France. In France it is against the law for a cell phone to be bundled with a specific operator and try as they might Apple couldn’t change this. So for France they are offering the first Apple unlocked iPhone in the world.
Category: iPhone | Tags: france, iPhone, orange, unlock | Be the First to Comment »
09.21.07 - 01:34pm
The iPhone is the first cell-phone in history to raise enough fervor that carriers fight over who has the rights to sell it. The negotiations in Europe have been rife in the news for months. Today it was announced that France Telecom’s Orange is the winner in France.
“We have signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone,” France Telecom’s spokeswoman.
She said the iPhone will be launched in November but did not give a specific launch date. It is likely the launch will coincide with the Nov. 9th launch in the UK and Germany.
She also did not give a specific cost of the iPhone although she did say it would not be subsidized.
Category: iPhone | Tags: france, iPhone, orange | Be the First to Comment »
08.15.07 - 02:55pm
The iPhone’s launch for France has not yet been given although rumors are abounding that it will follow the Apple Expo exhibition which is to be held in Paris September 25 - 29.
Irregardless Apple has come to terms with who will be the iPhone’s carrier in France with France Telecom Orange winning the right to the much heralded device.
Orange was so excited to get the iPhone contract they have had their launch campaign ready for a month now and are also ready to begin their advertising campaign.
Since there are not the same amount of Apple outlets in France ready to sell the iPhone Orange may collaborate with Fnac, a media and electronics retailer, to boost its sale force.
Showing just how powerful having the iPhone is shares of France Telecom were up 1.45 percent in afternoon trading yesterday in spite of the downward market trend.
There are expected to be 50,000 units of the iPhone available for the France launch.
Category: iPhone | Tags: france, iPhone, orange, paris | Be the First to Comment »
07.05.07 - 01:39pm
The iPhone is proving to be everything competitors feared it would be - sleek, cool and selling like hotcakes. The frenzy here in the U.S. has made it even more in demand in Europe, a place used to being first in getting the newest and hottest items
on the market. It has still not been decided who will be the carriers for the iPhone in Europe but it does appear that there will be a different carrier for each region of Europe, or at least that’s what the rumors are.
Originally Apple was in talks with Vodafone, those talks however, appear to have fallen through. Carolina Milanesi, a telecoms analyst at Gartner said, “Although it would make a great deal of sense for Apple to go with Vodafone, it doesn’t really fit with Vodafone’s emphasis on their own music content and portal.”
Category: apple, iPhone | Tags: apple, carrier, europe, iPhone, o2, orange, t_mobile, vodafone | Be the First to Comment »
