Apple iPhone to go from one carrier to three in Germany ahead of Christmas shopping season

“Deutsche Telekom AG will lose exclusivity for Apple Inc.’s iPhone in Germany ahead of the holiday shopping season, bringing the number of providers that sell the device in the country to three, people familiar with the matter said,” Archibald Preuschat and Phillip Grontzki report for The Wall Street Journal.

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“Vodafone Group PLC and Telefónica SA’s O2 will sell the iPhone in addition to Deutsche Telekom, the people said Thursday,” Preuschat and Grontzki report. “One said that deals haven’t been finalized, but added that negotiations are in an advanced stage. Deutsche Telekom’s exclusive rights to sell the device haven’t been extended and could end as early as October, posing a threat to growth in the company’s home market.”

Preuschat and Grontzki report, “Deutsche Telekom’s mobile-service revenue has outperformed that of its rivals in recent quarters, partly because Deutsche Telekom has held exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in Germany since November 2007. The country is the last major European market in which one provider has exclusive rights to sell the iPhone.”

MacDailyNews Take: Cross Deutschland off the list, Google. German buyers will soon have no reason to settle for fake iPhones. The news is no better in Germany for the floundering Nokias and RIMs of the world, either.