It looks like more communists will be buying Apple (AAPL) iPhones. The handset is almost certainly going to be available in China this year. Now it appears that there is a deal in place to sell the iPhone in Russia.
A market source told Reuters Mobile TeleSystems, Russia’s largest carrier, had agreed with Apple to sell iPhones, probably starting in October.
The move is a critical one for Apple. While the iPhone is readily available in the US and Europe, it will never have significant global market share if it does not do well in India, Russia, China, and Latin America. The handsets are available in these regions, but they are "unlocked" versions which are not offered by a specific carrier which has a sales franchise from Apple.
A year ago, it would have been impossible to imagine that Apple could sell 20 million iPhones a year. That would still only be about 15% of the global annual units sales for Motorola (MOT), but the iPhone has a much higher price per handset than cell phones from other manufacturers.
Skeptics have said that the iPhone could never take the place of the iPod as a huge source of revenue for Apple. It may turn out that the assumption is wrong.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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