Best Buy to Become First Third Party Retailer To Stock 3G iPhone From September

According to reports just surfacing on the net, none other than Best Buy is due to become the first independent retailer to join AT&T and Apple’s own stores to stock the 3G iPhone from September 7th in 970 of its main stores as well as 16 of its smaller Best Buy Mobile stores throughout the US.

Coming hot on the heels of Best Buy having upgraded its cell phone departments under the new Best Buy Mobile banner (which, incidentally, is a joint venture with the CarPhone Warehouse Group), the announcement that Best Buy are to stock Apple’s 3G iPhone was made by Shawn Stone, the president of Best Buy Mobile, who states, ‘We had a lot of work to do, obviously, to get in a position where Apple and AT&T would feel good about Best Buy Mobile carrying it, and that’s what we’ve done in the last 18 months’.

It is not known at this stage whether this announcement marks a new direction in terms of other independent retailers being offered the 3G iPhone for resale, however, what is interesting is that AT&T’s spokesperson Michael Coe merely states that he cannot speculate as to whether we could see the 3G iPhone be come available from other third party retailers which could, as they say, be taken one of both ways.

[via]