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Aug. 25, 2008

Apple says that official sales in Russia of its new iPhone handset are likely to start in about two months.

A new deal has been reached between Apple and Mobile TeleSystems, Russia's largest wireless carrier. A second (unnamed) wireless carrier has also signed a framework agreement, and a third deal is in the works, according to various news sources.

A mobile telecommunications analyst says that the Russian wireless operator plans to sell one million iPhones within two years, and that total sales by the top three wireless carriers in Russia over that two-year period are expected to hit 3.5 million units.

According to some local sources, there are already about 600,000 unauthorized iPhones in use in Russia.

The retail price to Russian consumers is expected to be 24,000 rubles, or about $990. That's a lot higher than the current selling price in the U.S., but still less than the price of illegal iPhones already being detected in Russia.

When in June Apple announced its latest 3G iPhone, CEO Steve Jobs set a goal of getting the device into about seventy countries over the next several months.

However, on the large 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.

Jobs also added in June that he expected Apple to sell about 10 million phones in 2008.

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    This article was featured on Business 5.0.

Source: Apple.