German department store chain Karstadt will sell Apple's coveted
iPhone, Karstadt said on Monday, adding that it was too soon to say
whether the phones would be sold with or without a contract.
Karstadt hopes to have the phones in stock in time for the Christmas
shopping season.
Apple has not yet given details of how it plans to sell the iPhone in
Europe beyond saying it will be available in late 2007.
Around 700,000 of the gadgets -- which combine a phone with an iPod
music player, video player and Web browser in a sleek touch-screen
design -- are estimated to have been sold in their first weekend in
shops in the United States at the end of June.
The iPhone costs $500 or $600 in the United States, depending on
memory capacity, plus at least another $1,400 for a two-year service
commitment. Network operator AT&T has an exclusive deal to supply
U.S. service for the iPhone.
It is unknown whether any single European operator, such as
Telefonica , Vodafone or T-Mobile will strike a similar exclusive
deal with Apple for Europe.