Deutsche Telekom, better known as T-Mobile, has told Bloomberg that they’ve recently started accepting preorders for the next Apple iPhone, but want to emphasize that they have absolutely no idea when it’ll come out, how much it’ll cost, or what new features the fifth generation Jesus Phone will bring to the table when it hits the market. Alexander von Schmettow, the Deutsche Telekom spokesman who spoke to Bloomberg, said that the the operator isn’t going to advertise the iPhone 5, or 4S, or whatever it’ll end up being called, but instead they’ll issue coupons, which act like placeholders, to customers who specifically request the next iPhone. Why is Deutsche Telekom doing this? They say that they’re concerned that demand will exceed supply, which is something that’s likely going to happen when the next iPhone launches in Germany since it’ll be the first iPhone that won’t be locked to a specific operator at launch. The iPhone 4 was initially locked to Deutsche Telekom when it came out in June 2010, but it then hit Vodafone, O2, and even Apple’s own webstore (unlocked and unsubsidized) just a few short months later in October.
It’s too early to speculate on whether or not Apple will have issues keeping their next iPhone in stock. That and the fact that Apple has waited until the fall to release the iPhone 5/4S makes the company’s next move completely unpredictable. What we do know is that Apple has no issues supplying the current iPhone 4, and with rumors floating around that the iPhone family is going to grow this year, with a cheaper iPhone being released based on the iPhone 4, then could Apple keep potential iPhone 5 buyers at ease since more folks will want to get the less expensive model, thus leaving the “premium iPhone” to those who have more money to burn?
We’ll find out soon enough.