Apple Expected To Announce European iPhone Deal TuesdayApple Expected To Announce European iPhone Deal Tuesday

Apple is holding a press conference in London next Tuesday, where the computer maker is expected to announce a European iPhone deal.

Apple isn't providing specifics on the purpose of the press conference, but industry experts say Apple will launch the iPhone with carriers in the U.K., France, and Germany. They will likely include Telefonica's O2 U.K. unit, Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile, and France Telecom's Orange, according to a report by Reuters.

Research firm Gartner released a report in August saying that the iPhone could launch in Europe as early as September. "We expect more excitement in this market in the second half of the year," said analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Worldwide sales of mobile phones in the second quarter of this year reached 270.9 million units, a 17.4% increase from last year, according to Gartner. Nokia accounted for nearly 37% of the sales market share, followed by Motorola with 14.6%, and Samsung with 13.4%.

Apple stole the limelight in the quarter with the introduction of the iPhone, the research firm said.

Earlier this week, Apple announced that it sold its one millionth iPhone -- that's 74 days after it went on sale on June 29. "It took almost two years to achieve this milestone with iPod," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, in a statement.

But all hasn't been smooth for Apple. Last week investors showed their displeasure with Apple, shaving $11 billion off the company's market cap. Apple has decided to cut the price on the iPhone by $200, leaving many existing customers unhappy with the premium price they had to pay for the iPhone.

Now Apple needs to be successful in Europe to meet its goal of 10 million shipments by the end of next December.