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Aug. 20, 2009

T-Mobile USA and Radio Shack have jointly announced that they are now selling the new myTouch 3G handset, as well as an assortment of T-Mobile products and services.

The new myTouch 3G is based on Google's Android operating system, and is available in more than 4,000 RadioShack stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

The announcement represents a true retail partnership that the two companies agreed to last month. By offering its service and devices through RadioShack, T-Mobile expands its retail reach, while RadioShack continues to diversify its portfolio of wireless service providers.

In addition to T-Mobile USA, Radioshack is now a certified reseller of service and phones from AT&T, Sprint and Alltel Wireless.

The announcement comes at a time when selling smartphones is proving very profitable for all wireless operators and mobile service carriers. According to recent reports by ABI Research and NPD Group, smartphone sales are on the rise, reversing a trend toward declining mobile phone sales overall.

Meanwhile, ABI Research reports that second-quarter global phone sales declined 6 percent overall, but smartphone sales had grown by 26 percent since the same quarter in 2008.

The myTouch 3G joins additional T-Mobile postpaid wireless devices available from Radio Shack, including the BlackBerry Curve 8900, the Samsung T-239, the Samsung Comeback, the Samsung Gravity 2, the Samsung Behold and the Sony Ericsson TM-506.

The NPD Group found that while sales of new smartphones reached only 28 percent of overall consumer purchases (feature phones account for 72 percent of the total market), overall, smartphones still enjoyed a 47 percent increase in the category’s market share since 2008.

Meanwhile, AT&T is still anxious to find out if Apple will renew its exclusive contract to sell the iPhone in the U.S.

AT&T's exclusive contract with Apple expires in mid-2010.

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Source: T-Mobile USA.