New models of the iPhone have been sold exclusively in the United States in Apple and AT&T stores. Best Buy has been offering a broad range of mobile phone handsets by different providers including Research In Motion's BlackBerry, which is the top smartphone among business users and is considered the chief rival to the iPhone.

"We do believe that broadening our assortment and having iPhone in our stores is certainly going to be very important" as the holiday season approaches, Shawn Score, Best Buy Mobile's president, told the Reuters news service. "It solidifies us as the place to go for the cool stuff. Our customers are looking for this product."

"Customers let us know quickly that they dreaded shopping for a mobile phone anywhere in the United States, whether with us or anyone else," Score said at the time. "Where the new experience has been available, our customer satisfaction scores are through the roof." The firm has been training its mobile staff and its Geek Squad tech support personnel in mobile phoning as well.