Apple Inc. is seeking to revive the slow sales of its iPhone smartphone in Europe by ditching its exclusive deals and more than one carrier will distribute it in several markets there. "This is different from how we are doing it in the U.S.," Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said to CNN.

The first non-exclusive distribution will be seen in Italy, where both U.K.-based Vodafone and Telecom Italia will be distributing the iPhone simultaneously. There are also calls to cut the iPhone price in half, considering its users usually spend a lot on their phone bills and they can easily be subsidized by the carrier.

Vodafone also said that it would sell iPhones in Italy and India, as well as in Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey, but did not specify whether it will share these markets with other carriers or it has exclusive rights.

The move could be interpreted as a clear sign that the 3G iPhone is underway. Last year it was reported that Apple and Vodafone failed to nail a deal regarding the iPhone distribution in Europe due to the lack of 3G capabilities.

The announcement understandingly pushed Apple shares up a little bit.

It appears that the Cupertino company has finally realized that the consumers in Europe are apparently more educated about their choices than in the United States. They did not respond well to being charged a premium price for the iPhone, forced at the same time to go with a specific carrier which they might not like. The iPhone will make very little Europeans change their carrier.

However, here this did not happen because both AT&T and Apple are too greedy at the moment. Apple is probably stacking up money to compensate the development costs of its 3G iPhone, while AT&T saw that there are enough customers buying the iPhone at premium price, so there is no need for further financial incentives.