GERMANY: Apple's iPhone makes its European debut in Germany at a midnight launch in Cologne

Apple's iPhone hit the European market in Cologne on Friday (November 9), with the first of the most eagerly awaited gadget of the year going over the counter to customers in a Telekom shop just after midnight (23:00 GMT). Four months after being launched in the U.S., the iPhone will be sold in Germany by Deutsche Telekom's mobile phone division T-Mobile. The shop in Cologne was the only one in Germany to open up at midnight especially for the iPhone sale. All other 700 Telekom shops throughout Germany will sell the device from the morning on during normal business hours. Hundreds of people waited outside in the cold in Cologne's pedestrian zone to be one of the first to buy the iPhone in Europe. The shop had 600 in stock and was expecting to sell them within 3 hours. Philipp Humm, Managing Director of T-Mobile Germany, was overwhelmed by the number of people. "I think it is great that so many people are swept away by this cult product and I think that it is super that so many people came here despite the weather," he said. One buyer summed up why he came to buy the iPhone at such a late hour and in such bad weather. "I have been an Apple fan for a long time. I like the company and can use the products well. Three to four months ago I had the chance to have the phone in my hands. It was love at first sight," Dominic Hallau said. In Germany it will cost 399 euros ($580 USD) with a two-year minimum monthly fee of 49 euros. Apple slashed the iPhone price in the United States by $200 to $399 in September. Unlike many other phones, it will run on enhanced second generation (2G) networks, rather than the faster 3G system, though it will automatically switch onto speedy local wireless, or wifi, networks where these are available. The iPhone will also go on sale in the United Kingdom later on Friday.

ITN Source | November 9, 2007

Tags:. .hour. .director. .source. .friday. .company