AT&T prepares for iPhone explosion

Staff leave cancelled as US mobile firm prepares for Apple iPhone to take over the mobile market

Jonny Evans

AT&T expects massive sales of Apple's iPhone when it ships in the US, while Orange, Vodafone and other European operators scuffle for distribution rights in the UK.

The latest reports indicate sales teams at AT&T are being warned that they will get no time off during the first few weeks of release of Apple's iPhone through the US mobile operator's service.

A first spotted by iLounge, an internal email purporting to be from AT&T warns employees that no holiday time will be agreed between 15 June and 15 July, and urges employees who have already made holiday plans to cancel them.

Additional reports claim the iPhone display units will be 7-feet tall, 3-feet wide and require both an internet connection and a power source to run.

The memo refers to the iPhone launch month as, "likely to be the biggest selling period we have seen in a few years."

The third survey to anticipate iPhone sales in recent weeks confirms AT&T's expectations for sales of Apple's $499 or $599 internet appliance mobile iPhone.

The Changewave Alliance survey believes the device will set a sales record and notes a cooling of demand for mobile phones from Nokia and Motorola as users cease upgrading their devices as they prepare to pounce on the iPhone.

“As more and more consumers switch to the iPhone, we are going to see a huge migration from mobile phone manufacturers like Motorola to the hipper, cooler iPhone,” said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research and editor of ChangeWave Investing.

Apple plans to launch the device in Europe this year, with recent reporst claiming Vodafone and Orange to be most likely to secure the UK iPhone distribution deal.

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