BREAKING NEWS: Apple Australia say they know “nothing” about the appointment of Vodafone as an offical seller of the iPhone in Australia. “We got a Vodafone press release announcing a deal at the same time as the media” said a stunned Apple Executive.
Vodafone claim that they have offically snared the iPhone in Australia. A 3 line press release announced the deal. It was devoid of any information on pricing, launch date or whether they will be selling a 3G phone in Australia.
Vodafone claims it has signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in ten of its markets around the globe. Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network.
According to Fiona Martin head of Apple PR Apple Australia know nothing about the appointment of Vodaphone.
“I am as mystified as you are. We got the press release from Vodaphone the same time as the media. I know nothing about this. We will have to investigate,” she said.
This move follows last July’s decision by Vodafone in the UK not to sign up as the exclusive partner for the iPhone in the UK, which was won by O2.
Vodafone UK’s decision was due to Apple is demanding that its mobile phone partners hand over a significant proportion of revenues generated by the iPhone and restrict the content that users can access.
