BERLIN, Germany-T-Mobile International announced it scored a major deal with handset maker Sharp Corp. to create a line of phones designed specifically for the carrier, which will be sold across Europe. The first of this new generation of co-developed phones will be the TM100 camera phone, which will be available in April.
“The cooperation with Sharp enables us to offer our customers an even broader range of technologically innovative and visually diverse mobile phone models,” said David Hytha, executive vice president of international terminal management at T-Mobile. “It allows us to meet customers’ demands for technology, exciting designs and easy to use products even more effectively.”
The deal is the latest in a trend of carrier customization within the worldwide wireless industry. Carriers are looking to rely more and more on exclusive or customized handsets as a way to separate themselves from the competition. Vodafone, Orange and others have been leading the charge.
