Apple resellers cast doubts on iPhone release

The founder of Apple community site MacTalk has either uncovered the biggest Australian tech news story of the year. Or he's one mischievous bugger.

Apple fans around the nation suffered coronaries this morning after a post on an Apple community Web site claimed Apple resellers have been given Australian release dates for the much-hyped iPhone.

The post suggests that Apple resellers have informally been told that they will be able to sell the iPhone in late June, with access to multiple carriers and no lock-in contracts.

But seven large Apple resellers in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra contacted by ZDNet.com.au, said they have heard nothing from Apple about an Australian release.

David McMahon, CEO of Fone Zone, parent company of massive Apple reseller network Next Byte, says he is still in the dark. "Others may well have been told something but I've heard nothing," he said.

"These things are kept very secret," said a sales manager at a Mac1 store. "We never get told anything. The first thing we do in the morning is check the Apple Web site to make sure nothing new has been released".

"Absolutely not," said another in Melbourne, who said that new Apple products tend to arrive wrapped in black plastic to stop information leaks. "We haven't been told a thing."

"Haven't heard anything at all," said another in Sydney. "You will let us know if you hear anything, yeah?"

The author of the post, a former employee of Apple reseller Computers Now, said that only a handful of sales managers from key Apple partners have been told informally of the plans.

He said that four different store owners had been given four different release dates, close together in mid to late June, so that Apple would know who released the information should it be made public.

ZDNet.com.au contacted all four resellers, none of which revealed any information.

Either Apple is bizarrely selective in who it's sharing its product release information with, or somebody is stirring the pot...

What do you think?