Best Buy becomes first US retailer to stock iPhone

The leading US electronics retailer will begin selling the hit phone on September 7 in 970 stores, including all the stores where Apple has launched its "mini-store" pilot program.

Best Buy said it would sell iPhones through its Best Buy Mobile shops that it has begun to open across a little over a dozen cities nationwide. Those smaller versions of the bigger retailer focus primarily on mobile phone sales.

Such a deal makes sense considering that Apple has had a closer relationship with Best Buy than with any other US retailer in recent months. The retailer resumed its sales of Apple branded products in December 2006. Later, in May 2007, the companies reached a deal to build a "store-within-a-store" for Mac products and their accessories. So far, the concept has been successful for, and Apple has said it will continue to work with the retailer to open more of these "mini-stores" during the year.

Offering the iPhone could also help Best Buy get a leg up on its competitors during the upcoming holiday season. With the device expected to be one of the hot items, it could have the effect of coercing consumers to make other holiday purchases there.

Best Buy may have also have had some help from its partnership with Britain's Carphone Warehouse. That company is working with Best Buy in its mobile department, while Best Buy is assisting Carphone in its European ventures.

Carphone Warehouse is the selected retail partner for Apple's iPhone within the UK.

Activating the phone would be no different than what Apple currently does through its own stores and AT&T. Customers would need to sign a contract and have their phones activated in-store in order to qualify for the subsidized $199 price.

It doesn't appear that the addition of the iPhone will mean any additional staffing to handle the iPhone specifically, as Best Buy did in some stores for Macs. However, the new mobile store concept includes employees who have specifically been trained for mobile sales, and would likely receive considerable training to deal with the iPhone as well.

Best Buy believes this new focus on mobile has been a key driver in its growth of wireless sales, which had previously been handled by general employees who had only had minimal training in that department.