iPhone 3G sold legally in Russia – better than the black market?

The iPhone may be popular in Russia, but Apple actually hasn’t sold even one in the country due to no official deals being in place. Now, it looks as though three mobile phone companies in the country are claiming done deals, meaning the black market could soon be squeezed out of the running.

The iPhone is massively popular in Russia, with an estimated 500,000 original models thought to be in use, and 20,000 of the new generation iPhone 3G models currently being sold every month. There’s just one problem, Apple has never actually sanctioned the sale of the iPhone in Russia, and so all those currently in use were bought from the black market, often for more money than they would cost through legal channels.

This lack of an official outlet for Russian consumers to get their iPhone fix looks set to be ended however, with the news that at least two, and possibly three, Russian mobile phone companies are claiming to have deals in place to sell the iPhone 3G starting later this year.

According to Yahoo News, last week saw Vimpelcom announce it had signed an agreement. And now Megafon has done the same, although further details on either deal weren’t forthcoming. These announcements follow on from an unofficial report suggesting that Mobile TeleSystems, Russia’s largest mobile phone operator had made a deal.

The question remains as to whether Russian techno-geeks will actually go for the official deal, and be tied in with one network, or stick to paying more for a black market iPhone, but have the freedom of using it on the network of their choice after paying extra to have it unlocked.

Most iPhones sold on the black market in Russia change hands for upwards of $1000, with an extra $100 being charged to have it unlocked. The cost of buying an iPhone 3G from an official Apple partner would likely be substantially less than that. But with the Russian system tending to mean handsets and contracts are sold separately, the exclusive nature of the Apple iPhone deal is likely to take some getting used to.

The official iPhones are expected to start being sold from October, and the three carriers claiming they have deals in place are reportedly looking to sell 3.5 million units over the next two years. With the black market sales added in, Russia would therefore become a massive consumer base for the device.

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