We know, we know. You’re all sitting on the edge of your seat to hear the Hamburg court’s decision on the T-Mobile iPhone injunction. The court is reviewing the decision to force T-Mobile to sell unlocked iPhones alongside the locked iPhones offered exclusively through the German wireless operator. And, it seems anxious German iPhone-hopefuls will be biting their nails for another day – the ruling has been delayed until tomorrow, December 4, 2007.
Let’s refresh the issue a bit. Vodafone, presumably upset over losing the Apple iPhone exclusivity contract to T-Mobile Germany, prompted a German court to issue a temporary court-order that forced T-Mobile to sell unlocked versions of the iPhone. The question at hand is whether or not the Apple/T-Mobile exclusivity deal to distribute iPhones in Germany is legal – Vodafone argued that the deal breached local regulations.
So, T-Mobile complied with the court-order and has been offering unlocked iPhones at ridiculous prices (999 Euro – a price point meant to discourage unlocked iPhone customers). T-Mobile has been waiting on the Hamburg-district court to review the Apple/T-Mobile deal to (hopefully) find that the partnership is legit and will be allowed to resume exclusive sales of locked iPhones.
Keep in mind, France’s Orange is offering unlocked iPhones (Orange and Apple had some run-ins with local telecom regulations) at a 749 Euro price point. Any Germans interested in an unlocked iPhone only need to take a quick train-ride (well, quick-ish) to the land of crepes and creme sauces to save a couple hundred Euros. We’d like to know just how many unlocked iPhones T-Mobile is selling.
[Via: iPhone Central]