Apple sorts its European iPhone bet

target=blank>Sayeth the Germans, T-Mobile picks up the contract in Germany, Orange in France and O2 in the UK. That does, we have to admit, tie up from what we've been hearing from fruity sources.

To land the deal, the carriers had to promise to hand over 10% of subscriber revenue to Apple, a deal similar, it's thought, to Apple's deal with AT&T in the US.

The flipside is that with iPhone handsets selling at full price, the carriers don't have to subsidise the phones, as they do with most new mobiles currently.

Apple is still planning to have the phones out before Christmas, and the IFA announcement could see them on shelves as soon as October, once all the legal wranglings have been finalised. The clock is ticking, folks. µ