Carphone taking registrations for iPhone

UK mobile phone retailer, the Carphone Warehouse, looks to have got in early on the iPhone hype. The company is already taking pre-registrations “to receive an exclusive offer” on the Apple device “as soon as it is available”.

Apple has said that the iPhone is not likely to make it to European shores until late 2007 but Carphone has said the device is expected just in time for the Christmas spending frenzy.

Carphone’s move does not really give anything away about the iPhone that we did not already know. Although it has been suggested that if the company does have an inside track on which operator or operators will be offering the device, Vodafone might not be in the game.

Vodafone pulled its retail contract deal from Carphone in October and instead took its business to Phones 4U. This means Carphone is not able to sell any handsets on a Vodafone contract.

It is unlikely the iPhone, due to its sky high price tag, will be made available on anything but a contract. It is also expected that Apple will follow its strategy in the US and sign up just one operator for an exclusive deal.

Neither of Carphone’s closest rivals, the Link and Phones 4U seem to have up any info about the iPhone, although it has been common practice for some time to throw in an iPod as an incentive to buy certain phones or contracts.