Russians may soon get their chance to queue up to buy the Apple iPhone. Legally, that is.
Official sales of the iPhone are likely to start in October, with a deal having been reached between Apple and Mobile TeleSystems, Russia's largest carrier, according to the Reuters news agency, citing market sources. A second, carrier has also signed a framework agreement, and a third deal is in the offing, Reuters reported.
A mobile telecommunications analyst told Reuters that MTS aims to sell 1 million iPhones within two years, and that total sales by the top three carriers over that two-year period are expected to hit 3.5 million units.
The price to Russian consumers is expected to be 24,000 rubles, or about US$990. That is far higher than the price in the United States, but much less, Reuters said, than the price of unauthorized iPhones already being scooped up in Russia.
There are reportedly 600,000 unauthorized iPhones already in Russian hands.
When Apple announced the latest iPhone, the 3G, in June, CEO Steve Jobs set a goal of getting the device into 70 countries "over the next several months". But in the big map of the world on display during his keynote address at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference, Russia was a large and conspicuous void--as was its sizable neighbor, China.
Also at WWDC in June, Jobs said he expected Apple to sell 10 million phones this year.
This article was first published as a blog on CNET News.com.
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