Using the 3G iPhone as a springboard, Apple plans to bring its name and dominance of the market into new counties, according to a report published in Information Week. The article stresses that the iPhone’s ability to “take advantage of faster wireless networks” is one selling point Apple is pitching to its prospective business partners.
Information Week describes the international partners that have already signed on to market the new iPhone 3G outside of the United States: “In the Netherlands, Royal KPN NV said it is talking with Apple about obtaining rights to market iPhones to its Dutch subscribers. Sweden’s TeliaSonera said this week that it will market the iPhone in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.” You’ll also be ale to find the iPhone in Oceania and Japan.
Computerworld outlined every deal that Apple has made to carry the iPhone out of its current markets: the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Austria. American Movil will carry the iPhone in Argentina, Chile, Columbia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay. Orange will carry the iPhone in Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, France, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland.
The Computerworld article notes that part of the reason for the iPhone’s newfound popularity in markets outside of its four existing ones concerns its compatibility with third-party programs: “Also to play a prominent role at Worldwide Developer Conference will be iPhone 2.0, the firmware upgrade unveiled in March that will let iPhone users add third-party applications to their devices, and allow enterprises to sync corporate iPhones with Microsoft Exchange e-mail and scheduling servers.”
In the United States, AT&T Wireless carries the iPhone. However, despite their high cost, people flock to the wireless carrier in order to take advantage of the iPhone’s capabilities. On Apple’s website, an 8 GB model will run you $399 and require a two-year agreement. A 16 GB model costs $499. The display is 3.5”. I personally am attracted to the ease of using the iPhone. Each iPhone comes with Safari, which Apple describes as “the most advanced web browser ever on a portable device.”
For now, the eyes will turn towards the Worldwide Developer Conference, where the 3G may finally be unveiled. The conference starts on June 9th in San Francisco and features speeches by Apple’s executives. Plenty of Mac news should be on the docket as well.