T-Mobile sells more than 120,000 3G iPhones

Deutsche Telekom's wireless business T-Mobile has sold more than 120,000 new 3G iPhones since its sales launch on July 11 despite distribution problems, its chief executive officer told a German weekly magazine.

Hamid Akhavan told Focus that delivery problems that had left customers waiting for weeks to get their hands on the new, faster version of the iPhone had been solved and that the backlog would be cleared by the end of the month.

"Our (sales) expectations were surpassed," Mr Akhavan said in an interview, adding the carrier had sold 75,000 iPhones in Germany alone. He said distribution had hit a snag as Apple had decided to launch the iPhone in 22 countries at the same time. The latest iPhone from Apple Inc. has faster, third-generation (3G) web connections when compared with the first iPhone that was launched in the middle of last year.

But users around the world have complained about dropped calls and inconsistent internet speeds, with the phone often reverting to a slower technology known as Edge even in 3G areas.

Last week, Apple Inc. issued a software update to help fix connection problems that led to a flurry of online complaints from customers. (Reuters)

T-Mobile, which also sells the iPhone in the Netherlands and in Austria, received complaints from Dutch customers but none from German and Austrian ones, Akhavan said.