Telefonica: 300,000 iPhone 3G pre-orders

Dow Jones reports that Telefonica SA has received 300,000 pre- registrations in the United Kingdom and Spain to buy the iPhone 3G. A company spokesperson said that individuals have been reserving units of the device on the Telefonica Web site. Telefonica will begin selling the 3G iPhone July 11 in Spain, the Czech Republic and twelve Latin American countries. Apple's own retail stores in the UK may not be able to sell the iPhone 3G on July 11th, an industry publication reports. The issue stems from Apple's new activation policy, which forces customers to subscribe to a given carrier in-store, rather than at home through iTunes.

A British customer previously revealed that O2 – potentially other carriers as well – will allegedly offer a pre-registration service for customers who want to buy on the 11th of July. A visit to an O2 store yielded information that the carrier will offer users an early-bird registration credit check on July 1st to expedite the pickup process on launch day.

Filed under: iPhone, Apple
Other story tags: iTunes, iPhone 3G, 3G, retail, Telefonica, United Kingdom