When it arrives in the U.K. November 9 , the iPhone will look loaded challenger in that market than it does in the U.S. That ’s because prices for other smartphones are typically crushed in Europe , where many hustler subsidize the cost of novel headphone in parliamentary law to attract customers .
Apple announced the November 9 ship date Tuesday at a press conference in London . The society also support that O2 will wait on as its partner in the U.K. and that the 8 GB iPhone will sell for £ 269 ( $ 538 in U.S. dollars ) .
Apple launched the iPhone in the U.S. on June 29 , exclusively with manipulator AT&T. The 8 GB model initially be $ 599 , though Apple cut back the price to $ 399 earlier this month .
The European iPhone is considerably unaltered from the U.S. example , which already had the capacity to run on the 900MHz and 1800MHz GSM ( Global System for Mobile Communications ) bands used in Europe and Asia , in accession to the 850MHz and 1900MHz bands used in North America . Like the U.S. manikin , it has no 3 G high - speed data potentiality , and will rather operate on O2 ’s GPRS ( General Packet Radio Service ) and EDGE ( Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution ) networks .
In simulacrum posted on Apple ’s World Wide Web site Friday , the companionship revealed a new variant of theiPhone firmware , 1.1.1with a novel setting card for international options not seen in premature versions . Such mount will be useful as Apple moves away from English - speaking nation .
Apple is wide look to announce alike deals with operators in France and Germany over the coming weeks . France Télécom ’s Mobile River - and - cyberspace subsidiary Orange and Deutsche Telekom ’s subsidiary T - Mobile are the front - runners to sell the earpiece , agree to inquiry music director Carolina Milanesi of Gartner .
Apple will need to infix new food market if it is to meet analysts ’ sale expectations for the smartphone . The fellowship said it sold its first million iPhones in just 74 daylight , but U.S. grocery researcher iSuppli said on Sept. 4 that it expect Apple to ship 4.5 million of the devices worldwide this year — and between 10 million and 15 million next year .
Although the iPhone was the fastest - sell smartphone in the U.S. in July , accounting for 1.8 per centum of all handset sales there allot to iSuppli , it will present stiffer competition in Europe where other brands of smartphone are more entrenched . Nokia said it sell over 10 million of its Nseries and Eseries smartphones during the quarter to June 30 — including 1.5 million of its flagship N95 .
Then , there ’s the matter of price , where the £ 269 iPhone will be more than rival handsets . For instance , O2 client contract a £ 30 - a - month declaration for 18 months or more can get Nokia ’s top - of - the - grasp N95 smartphone with Wi - Fi , tv camera , euphony thespian and GPS for costless .
In the U.K. , the iPhone will also confront competition from Apple ’s owniPod touch , which will be usable there this month . In the U.S. , the iPhone had a four - month read/write head - start . The iPod Touch offers many of the same functions as the iPhone — with the obvious exception of telephony . In the U.K. , the 8GBiPod touch cost £ 199 ( $ 398 ) including tax , while the 16 GB model costs £ 269 ( $ 538 ) . In the U.S. , the same devices sell for $ 299 and $ 399 , excluding revenue enhancement .
