“Apple is understood to be demanding that its European mobile phone partners hand over a significant proportion of revenues generated by the iPhone and restrict the content that users can access,” Richard Wray reports for The Guardian.
“The portion of network revenues demanded by Apple is believed to have been behind Vodafone’s decision not to sign up as the exclusive partner for the iPhone in the UK. That contract is understood to have been won by O2 although the mobile phone operator stressed that no deal has yet been signed,” Wray reports.
“The iPhone is expected to launch in November in the UK through O2, in France with Orange and in Germany with T-Mobile,” Wray reports.
Full article here.
This is all unlogical! Maybe for Spain has the national carrier
with the cable tie-in. All this, these reports are based on the BBC if I remember correctly they & their iPlayer not to mention reports of “tough competition for iPhone” 2 day’s after it launched!!
I hope & think V will win most of th European zone, but I’ll wait for offical word from Apple.
iPhone is bringing customers to ATT, the revenue they are getting is simply commission.
Now if they were to deman revenue from all plans even the one’s not connected to iPhone, this would be different, and not that dissimilar from what Microsoft did with PC manufacturers not too long ago.
@MacView – “…start rueing.”
Thats funny.:-D May I borrow that?
“”Apple is understood to be demanding that its European mobile phone partners hand over a significant proportion of revenues generated by the iPhone .”
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“Isn’t this a bit like Universal demanding a cut of every iPod sold? “
No, it isn’t, despite the absurd non-logic some have used to make it seem that way.
It’s simply the way it is with the iTunes Store. Apple gets a portion of each track sold on iTS.
The key terms here are “revenues GENERATED by the iPhone.” Which would be those AT&T (or other potential phone carriers) accounts that utilize an iPhone.
It is nothing like the Universal situation. If one took Universal’s demands to their logical extreme, Uni would have to demand a portion of the profits from every guitar, drum set, etc., etc. being sold.
Apple simply wants a portion of iPhone revenue, just like it gets a portion of the revenue that is generated when music is sold on the iTunes Store. Because it it weren’t for the iPhone (iPod) the revenue generated by using an iPhone (iTunes/iPod) would not exist for the phone carrier (music label).
Did anyone ever stop to think that Universal has it backwards because the online, digital music download business has changed how things work.
Maybe these days, it isn’t music that’s influencing the sales of music players (iPods), but music players (iPods) that are influencing the sales of music.
Similar to the way that the very portable (and very popular) transister radio influenced radio airplay.
“No, it isn’t, despite the absurd non-logic some have used to make it seem that way.
It’s simply the way it is with the iTunes Store. Apple gets a portion of each track sold on iTS.”
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Well then if Apple is “entitled” to a cut of AT&T’s revenue then so are Palm, Blackberry, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola and every other handset maker..
Europe is not just UK, France and Germany, what about Holland!
I allready ordered my iPhone in october 2006 at a local reseller… not even knowing what it would look like or what it could do, or even if it was comming. In januari 2007 there was the dissappointment… in Europe we had to wait untill december. Now I hear it comming to Holland it makes me almost GO NUTS!!!!!!
Sorry I mean it is NOT comming to Holland
The iPhone is an Apple phone – with an Apple experience.
What it isn’t is a Vodaphone experience.
Buy any of the other 100 Vodaphone-s for that delightful experience…
Vodaphone are model themselves on Microsoft which says it all.
“Well then if Apple is “entitled” to a cut of AT&T’s revenue then so are Palm, Blackberry, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola and every other handset maker..”
Well..I won’t argue with that. Perhaps that is how the relationship between handset makers and the telcos ought to be. I doubt any of the handset makers would disagree. Maybe Apple’s arrangement with AT&T will cause some of them to grow a spine and reconsider how things ought to be between them and the telcos.
However, I must say I consider “entitled” an inappropriate word.
For one thing, I never said Apple was “entitled.”
For another, this arrangement (Apple getting some percentage of AT&T revenue from iPhone accounts) is simply the contract terms that Apple and AT&T mutually agreed to. Yes..it is spectulation, but barring any evidence to the contrary, let alone the terms to their contract, saying it is “mutually agreed to” is a reasonable presumption.
I wonder what the EU will say about this. I can imagine that the introduction in the EU with some delays depending on the countries can be tolerated but ultimately, the EU being one market, Apple will be obliged to release the iPhone in all EU countries. Having a single mobile phone carrier per country being against free competition among companies, I can also imagine this will have to be abandoned too and consumers should be able to choose their mobile phone company.
Isn’t the point that Apple is striking exclusive deals – i.e. O2 gets an exclusive with the iPhone in the UK, which drives customers to O2, which makes it more logical that apple ask a fee in return.
If Apple were to sell it unlocked, there would be no way that they could ask a fee from the operator.