Full steam ahead for Apple's iPhone
13-05-2008
by Bryan Collins

Apple has signed deals with Singapore Telecommunications and its three affiliates to launch the iPhone in Singapore, India, the Philippines and Australia later this year.

Globe Telecom will carry the iPhone in the Philippines, as will SingTel's Optus in Australia. Bharti Airtel, India's largest mobile operator, will offer the iPhone in that region. There was no word on when the device will be launched in Japan and China.

Tuesday's announcement means the iPhone will now be carried by multi-networks in several countries -- a significant change in the Apple iPhone distribution model. Last week, Vodafone revealed it is going to offer the device in Australia and India, while in Italy Vodafone will share distribution rights with Telecom Italia.

However, Apple's deals should put it on track to reach its target of 10 million iPhone sales before 2009. The imminent launch of an upgraded iPhone with 3G and GPS will also help sales.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, O2 has reduced the price on the 8GB iPhone by EUR100 to EUR299, fuelling rumours that the launch of a 3G version of the smartphone is imminent. The 16GB iPhone will continue to retail for EUR449. The mobile operator is running its promotion until 25 May, suggesting it's clearing out stock before the 3G version launches.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the Apple online store in the US has already sold out of the device, while in the UK Carphone Warehouse and O2 sold out last week. O2 in the UK had cut the price of the 8GB iPhone three weeks previously by 37 percent. A spokesperson told ENN, after the sell-out, that it was expecting more stock of the larger-capacity handset.

Apple has refused to comment on any speculation regarding the next generation of the iPhone, while O2 Ireland claimed it had no information about a new device.

"We haven't got any confirmation on that at the moment. We are working away on selling the devices that we have," an O2 spokesperson told ENN.

However, when the new 3G iPhone arrives it won't be the only new smartphone hitting the market. HTC, Nokia and Blackberry are all in the process of launching new devices.

HTC's new Touch Diamond has a responsive screen geared towards typing. It also has an internet browser that can re-arrange text to fit on the screen and a 3.2 megapixel camera. Nokia's successor to the highly successful N95 phone comes with 16GB of memory as standard. The N96 device is thinner and lighter than the N95 and has improved camera and GPS features.

The Blackberry Bold, which was unveiled on Monday, is a slimmed down black chrome version of previous models. It even features an iTunes utility to sync with a user's PC music collection.

The manufacturers of these smartphones generally sell their offerings at discounted prices and with less-restrictive contracts than Apple. This suggests the iPhone is facing some serious competition this summer. Investors certainly seem to think so. After Blackberry manufacturer RIM unveiled its device on Monday its shares on the Toronto stock exchange hit a new all-time time high of CSD141.97.