Despite the fact that over 600,000 unauthorized iPhones have made their way to Russia, Apple expects to sell 3.5 million units over the next two years.
According to analysts and market sources, Apple has officially struck deals with two Russian carriers, and is expected to add a third next week. Russia’s largest carrier, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), estimates that the handset will hit shelves by October.
Moscow-based Mobile Research Group analyst, Eldar Murtazin, has noted that MTS is expecting to target sales in the 1 million range over the next two years alone. “Total sales by the Big Three carriers will amount to 3.5 million iPhones within the next two years.
The carriers offering the device are expected to be paying $399 per unit from Apple and selling them for a whopping 24,000 roubles (about $990). Muritzan noted that this price is still well below what the black market iPhones have been going for.
“This number (3.5 million) could turn out to be inflated… The operators could lose money because they took all risks upon themselves having failed to dictate terms to retail chains through which they will sell the iPhones,” said Murtazin noting that operators had been unable to obtain commitments on volume from the independent retailers who sell phones on their behalf.
Alfa Bank analyst, Ivan Shuvalov, added that the Russian carriers could potentially fail to meet these sales targets if the price proves to be too high. Yet if Russian consumers are not turned off by the sticker shock, the carriers will “win because smartphones stimulate subscribers to use more value-added services such as mobile Internet and data transmission,” Shuvalov said.
Either way, Apple wins. Russia is a huge market for them to have in the bag. Apple’s Global Dominance is growing and growing. Now all they need to do is make sure their products work.
Be sure and check out the MacBlogziPhone WorldMap for complete coverage, rate plans and iPhone prices around the world.
[via WashingtonPost]
