Germany’s T-Mobile Considering Suing Vodafone
By Dianne See Morrison - Wed 05 Dec 2007 02:50 AM PST
Now that a Hamburg Court has ruled that T-Online has the right to sell a locked iPhone in Germany, the Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) unit is thinking of suing Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) for damages (via the FT). T-Mobile said it would review sales figures of locked iPhones, and if they show that they have been hurt by the court injunction Vodafone won in November barring the exclusive sale of the handsets, they may decide to launch legal action against the UK operator. There’s little doubt that Vodafone’s legal action has brought turmoil to T-Mobile’s launch of the iPhone. Following the injunction, T-Mobile was forced to offer an unlocked iPhone--albeit priced at 999 euros ($1,475). The German operator has not disclosed sales figures of the iPhone beyond its first day of sales when it said it sold 10,000 units. Sales of unlocked phones were stopped yesterday. It has also disrupted their marketing campaign in which T-Mobile has been using the iPhone to target higher spending technophiles who have tended to ignore them. Vodafone has a month to appeal the ruling, and said it is consulting with its lawyers.
France Telecom, (NYSE: FTE) meanwhile, reported today that its unit Orange has sold 30,000 iPhones since its November 28 launch. Orange, by law, must sell an unlocked version of the phone. It reports that 20 percent of the 30,000 phones they have sold were unlocked versions priced at 749 euros ($1099). Forty eight percent of people purchasing the iPhone were new customers to the network.
Posted in: Companies, Apple, Operators, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Countries, Europe, Germany
