From Marketwatch:

Best Buy Co. said Wednesday that it will begin selling the 3G iPhone from Apple Inc. next month - making it the first retailer to carry the popular wireless device…

…In a statement before the opening bell, Best Buy said it will begin to carry the 3G iPhone in its stores on Sept. 7. This will be the first time since last month’s launch of the device that it will be available outside of Apple and AT&T stores.



From my part of the country in the great northwest, the Apple stores are currently the only ones who have inventory of the 3G iPhone, and the lines are still HUGE. You can pay for one with no lines at any AT&T store, but AT&T carries no inventory. They just take your credit card, and call you in 2-3 weeks when it is available. If you want one today, they are already sold out at the Apple stores. You may be able to get one tomorrow, by checking the tomorrows expected iPhone inventory at your local Apple store.

It’s not clear from the story, but somehow I doubt that Best Buy will use the AT&T sales model of just taking credit cards for the iPhone and calling customers 3 weeks later. If that thesis holds true, and 3G inventory levels remain scarce, then the 3G iPhones will be mainly sold at Apple and Best Buy stores. Very few consumers will wait 3 weeks for an iPhone from AT&T when they can get it today from Apple or Best Buy. It makes me wonder what Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T, is thinking. He is now subsidizing Apple’s profits on the front end (device subsidy), and most likely selling the iPhone data plan at a loss. And he is doing this all on a device that Apple does not provide enough inventory for AT&T to sell. By my calculations, Steve Jobs is the man in charge and dictating the rules for this “partnership”.