Russia and China are two very important markets for Apple’s iPhone. The device needs to gain substantial ground in both countries for Apple’s global dominance to truly emerge.
Back in July, Apple and the iPhone 3G began slowly making ground with Chinese and Russian negotations. At Apple’s recent WWDC ‘08, in an exclusive (video link) interview with CNBC’s Jim Goldman, Steve Jobs mentions that China as well as Russia are “the two big ones we [Apple] couldn’t close, but I think you’ll see those later this year.”
As possible deal specifics heated up, it was understood that these two markets are substantially important for the iPhone’s success. Throughout the entire month of August, MacBlogz has been reporting about the latest happenings with the Russia iPhone negotiatons. On August 4th, we reported that Russia would officially start selling the phone in 2009. And recently, we reported about analyst predictions that Apple will sell 3.5 Million iPhone 3G’s in Russia over the next two years.
Recent reports from TUAW suggest that Apple’s iPhone 3G has gone official in Russia.”The particulars aren’t available yet, but VimpelCom representatives said they hope to be selling the iPhone “…later this year.”
We’ve heard of 3 different carriers rumored to carry the device in Russia (Mobile TeleSystems, VimpelCom & Megafon).
Our iPhone World Map details what’s going on with Apple’s plan for global domination. If you click the Russia pin on the map, there’s some specific carrier information in the popup, as well as the video mentioned above.
